Clayton to begin with virtual-only learning

Year tostart Aug. 10, with goal of in-person classes after nine weeks.

Clayton County students will begin the new school year the same way they ended the last: learning from home.

The school board for the south metro Atlanta community Monday approved a plan that begins the academic year Aug. 10 with virtual-only instruction. The plan also allows for opening schools for in-person classes after nine weeks, if it is safe to do so.

Teachers and staff also will be allowed to work from home after consulting with their principals, the board said.

“Until we create ... a safer situation, the virtual option provides minimal risk,” Superintendent Morcease Beasley said in a YouTube presentation Tuesday.

The decision comesas districts are facing dual pressures: parents concerned about sending their children into a traditional classroom setting while coronavirus infections are surging nationally. In addition, President Donald Trump has threatened to strip federal education funds from school systems that don’t fully open.

“If they ain’t opening up the White House, we shouldn’t open up our house,” board member Mark Christmas said.

Chairwoman Jessie Goree concurred.

“Despite what you’re hearing on the news about who is in charge of local school districts, the local board of education determines what happens in Clayton County, not the people that are in Washington,” she said.

District leaders initially planned to open schools Aug. 3 but pushed that date back to give teachers more time to prepare for online learning. The decision is in line with other metro area school systems, including those in Atlanta, DeKalb, Fayette and Gwinnett, that have delayed the first day of classes for similar reasons.

Whether Clayton opens schools for in-person instruction nine weeks after the first day of class will depend on how the state and the nation have fared in reducing coronavirus infection numbers, Beasley said.

“We could do it sooner if the data moves in the right direction,” Beasley said. “Our goal is to move at some point, if or when the data allows, to a faceto-face option.

“We do believe that the best option for our students is to be in school with their teachers and their principals and their peers face to face,” Beasley said.

The next step for parents and students is to pick up the laptops that will be used for virtual learning and which will be provided by the school system, Beasley said. Principals will reach out to families to let them know when the devices are available.

“If you have devices and you need internet, we need you to let your principals know that,” he said. “They will be working with the technology department to ensure that you get the hot spots that you need.”