After initially declaring they would not alter the schedule for Election Day, Atlanta Public Schools officials announced an early dismissal on Jan. 5 to give students and teachers more time to vote.
Jan. 5 is the first day students will resume online classes after the district’s two-week holiday break. It’s also Election Day, with voters deciding two U.S. Senate runoff races.
In a statement released to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week, APS said Jan. 5 would be a regular, online instructional day. The district said: “We do not anticipate the runoff Election Day posing any disruption to our instructional day.”
But on Monday, the Atlanta school system changed its tune.
School board Chairman Jason Esteves announced Jan. 5 will be a half-day.
“I am excited to announce that our administration has decided to make Tuesday, Jan. 5 an early release day so that students and teachers at our traditional schools can make sure that they have the time that they need to go vote,” Esteves said during a Monday meeting.
He thanked Superintendent Lisa Herring for “seeing the need to make Election Day voting easier for our school community.”
Elementary schools will end the day at 11:30 a.m. Middle school classes will end at 12:30 p.m., and high school classes will end at noon.
Intervention programs and after-school activities will take place as scheduled.
Early voting in Fulton County started Monday and ends Dec. 30.
