In a memo to staff today, newly minted Superintendent, Dr. Lisa Herring has made the decision to push school back for two weeks and starting virtually. This decision was made on the heels of Atlanta Mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms to move the city back to phase I with the mounting Coronavirus cases surging in Georgia.
While expected, many parents and students are shocked, but relieved that the school district has put students first. According to Herring, “At this time, the trajectory of new cases in Atlanta, Fulton County, and Georgia more than suggest – it demands – that we take the utmost of caution and delay any in-person return to our schools. Therefore, as part of our plan to reopen schools, we will propose to the Atlanta Board of Education that we delay the first official day of school by two weeks, moving it from Monday, August 10, to Monday, August 24, when we will resume teaching and learning within a virtual model.”
Today in Georgia there were 4,484 cases with 35 deaths and 331 hospitalizations. In the past weeks, parents have decried the idea of students starting back in person; however, districts like Fulton County, Gwinnett, Marietta City, and Douglasville have introduced mixed models.