State Board May Push For Later School Start Date

UPDATE 10 a.m.: The state Board of Education updated its agenda to withdraw from consideration the proposed rule.

This proposed rule has been withdrawn from consideration. An updated version of the proposed rule will be initiated at a future date. There will be a new public comment period for the updated proposed rule.
 

ORIGINAL STORY: The state Board of Education may decide at its Thursday meeting to push schools to delay the start of school statewide until Sept. 8, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

While many districts decided to start the semester virtually, some groups argue a school board's move to start online removes local control.

It is unclear whether the state can do much more than strongly urge districts to move back their start dates as Georgia has locally controlled school districts.

Students are set to start virtually in Gwinnett, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, Clayton and Henry county schools, as well as Atlanta Public Schools and Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools, which represent nearly 40% of Georgia’s public students.

Forsyth’s school board voted Tuesday to push back the start of the school year one week to Aug. 13 while still offering both in-person and online learning options.

In Cherokee County, parents were surveyed and given a choice to start Aug. 3 with "digital learning" or face to face. It's one of the few districts maintaining its course, despite push back from teachers who are concerned about whether in-person instruction is safe.

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