The 2020-2021 school year ended with seven metro Atlanta school districts reporting an estimated total of more than 15,000 known coronavirus cases among students and staff.
Although the data is incomplete, it provides a rough estimate for how the districts fared during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The numbers were lowest in districts that stuck to virtual-only learning longer, including Atlanta Public Schools and the Clayton County School District.
Cobb and Gwinnett systems, which championed in-person as well as remote learning early in the school year, topped more than 5,000 cases apiece. They are also two of the larger school systems.
The Georgia Department of Public Health required schools to report known cases of the coronavirus among students and staff since late August.
The agency left it up to individual school districts to determine if and how they released COVID-19 case numbers. Most districts posted data to their websites, though the format varied.
School districts did not publicly post data about employee deaths due to the coronavirus.
Atlanta Public Schools
- Cases reported week of May 22-28: 1 staff, 8 students
- Cases reported from Aug. 28-May 28: 359 staff, 430 students
- Total cases reported: 789
- Total number of students in system: 51,012
- Note: APS held online-only classes the first semester.
Clayton County Public Schools
- Cases reported May 21: 5 staff, 3 students
- Cases reported since July: 464 staff, 90 students
- Total reported cases: 554
- Note: Clayton has held online-classes since the school year began
- Total number of students in system: 55,000
Cobb County Public Schools
- Total cases reported from July 1 to May 28: 5,224
DeKalb County Public Schools
- Cases reported from July 1 to May 27: 844 staff, 325 students
-Total cases from July 1 to Mary 13: 1,169
- Total number of students in system: 93,000
Fayette County Public Schools
- Cases reported May 15-21: 1 staff, 8 students
- Total cases reported since August: 215 staff, 661 students
- Total cases: 876
- Total number of students in system: 14,550
Fulton County Public Schools
- Cases reported May 24-27: 7 students and staff
- Total cases reported since August: 3,110
- Note: Fulton does not break down the cases between staff and students
- Total number of students in system: 90,300
Gwinnett County Public Schools
- Staff cases reported Aug. 18 to May 27: 1,825
- Student cases reported Aug. 27 to May 27: 3,576
- Total cases reported since August: 5,401
- Total number of students in system: 177,401
Note: This file is updated regularly. Ben Brasch, Kristal Dixon, Alia Malik, Wilborn Nobles and Leon Stafford contributed to this report.
About the Author
