Some metro Atlanta public school students will head back to class this week. Rockdale County Public Schools starts on Monday. Cobb, Henry, Clayton, Cherokee, Forsyth and Paulding counties, the City of Marietta Schools, and City Schools of Decatur start on Thursday.
Georgia public schools typically start a few weeks earlier than schools in nearby states. Public schools in the northeast and Midwest often start after Labor Day. In 2018, lawmakers, concerned about the impact of short summer breaks on the state’s travel and tourism industry, formed a study committee to consider legislating when schools should start and end the year.
The committee heard testimony from various stakeholders about the reasons why so many districts start school in August when some families aren’t ready to come back from vacation yet. Here are some of the reasons they heard.
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