Fulton County Schools Announces Reopening Plan, New 2020-2021 Calendar

06/30/2020 Business, Sports


Fulton County Schools will give families the option to send their children to school or to learn online at home.

The district will also delay the start of the 2020-2021 school year. On Monday, the board unanimously agreed to move the first day of school from August 10 to 17. That will give teachers and staff more time to prepare in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Fulton School System is the fourth largest school district in Georgia, with more than 93,500 students. Parents have been closely watching the reopening decision after the coronavirus forced school buildings to close in mid-March.

Superintendent Mike Looney described his current thinking during the Monday board meeting. He said the district plans to open schools for in-person instruction, but also allows students in grades 1-12 to enroll in full-time virtual instruction.

Prekindergarten and kindergarten classes will only be offered in an in-person setting.

“Everything we are communicating today is our intention from today, but it depends entirely on what the data says when it is our turn to turn on the first bell at school,” Looney said.

Online registration for the virtual model will be open from Tuesday to July 17.

Initially, district officials had planned to require high school students to choose the online option to drop out of their school and enroll in one of the district’s two alternative high schools.

"I think if we can get a penetration rate of over 70% voluntary compliance, our school community, our employees and our students will do very well," he said. "There will always be concerns that everyone is required to wear a mask for a myriad of reasons, and therefore I think it is better to influence the power of the relationship than to demand it."

Classroom layouts will be modified and desks will be spaced. Changes will be made to the lunch and bus service. Schools will not hold large assemblies. Class changes will be staggered so that not everyone will flood the hall at once.

The district will begin the new year with a four-week unit called "Restart" to help students return to the routine of in-person education, said Cliff Jones, academic director.

Fulton County Schools were the first in Georgia to close schools in the spring after two teachers were confirmed to have COVID-19.

The first teacher passed out in class at Bear Creek High School on March 6. The other teacher was last in class on March 9. Those cases led the district to close all of its more than 100 schools for two days. After briefly reopening, another employee became ill, and then the district closed the buildings forever.

The district is planning additional meetings and online taped sessions with administrators to answer questions and provide information about the start of the next school year.