Fulton school board approves changes to school calendars
The Fulton County school board approved changes to the next two years’ instructional calendars at a meeting Thursday.
The board slightly modified the 2024-25 calendar, shifting the two-week-long winter break back a little so it starts on Dec. 23, 2024, instead of Dec. 20, 2024. Teachers will return from the break Jan. 6, 2025, instead of Jan. 3, 2025. Students will resume classes Jan. 7, 2025, instead of Jan. 6, 2025.
The board also agreed to move spring break to April 7-11, 2025, instead of the week before. That aligns them with neighboring districts like Gwinnett County and Atlanta Public Schools. The first day of school is still Aug. 5, 2024. The last day, May 22, 2025, also remains unchanged.
For Fulton’s 2025-26 instructional year, the board made some bigger changes.
The first day of school will be Aug. 4, 2025, and the last day for students will be May 21, 2026. Teachers finish the next day, May 22, 2026. Fulton also extended fall break to a full week (Oct. 13-17, 2025) instead of a few days.
The changes were made after input from staff, students and parents.
Over the years, some metro Atlanta districts have switched to “balanced” calendars, which typically have shorter summers in exchange for more breaks during the school year. Fulton refers to the 2025-26 plan as a “modified balanced calendar.”
During a discussion of the changes at a recent work session, board member Franchesca Warren suggested adding a break later in the school year.
“What I keep hearing from parents and teachers is that we need a break second semester,” she said. “I know we have spring break, but I keep hearing (we need a) winter break in February.”
Fulton Superintendent Mike Looney said stakeholders considered that, but decided to wait and see how extending fall break works first.
“I think there are opportunities for ... looking at that after we collect some data to see what the impact was on the instruction and outcomes from fall break,” he said.
During Thursday’s meeting, board members also raised concerns about the early start date for teachers in 2025 of July 24.
“There are a lot of camps that go on throughout the summer that are utilized at our schools,” said Kristin McCabe. “We are going back in the middle of one week ... I’d like us to think ahead and be prepared for the schools, what they’re going to do with the camps that are there.”
Board Vice President Katha Stuart said having more planning days should give schools flexibility when planning to hold ppen houses.
“We need to make sure that those days are available for the schools to (hold open houses) because they can’t all do them on the same day,” she said. “Say I have ... three kids — elementary, middle and high. I can’t go to three different schools in one day.”
During the work session, Looney said he’d like metro Atlanta school districts to collaborate on calendars.
“It’s incumbent upon us to continue to lean in with our neighboring school districts to see if we can build consensus about trying to have a more regional, unified calendar because our calendar … even though we’ve tried, does not align with neighboring districts completely,” he said. “So I think having that conversation more broadly is important.”
About the Author
Martha Dalton is a journalist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, writing about K-12 education. She was previously a senior education reporter at WABE, Atlanta's NPR affiliate. Before that, she was a general assignment reporter at CNN Radio. Martha has worked in media for more than 20 years. She taught elementary school in a previous life.
