DeKalb County Schools and Decatur City Schools will reopen Thursday, a day after a water main break affected water pressure and forced all DeKalb schools to close.

A water main break caused flooding on Buford Highway in Doraville, just north of Interstate 285 in DeKalb County. A boil-water advisory continues to be in effect for DeKalb County residents.

DeKalb officials decided to open Wednesday morning, busing students to school, then announced an early-release schedule about an hour later, which meant busing the students back home between 10 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. Decatur City Schools delayed its start to assess the matter, then decided to close.

Wednesday afternoon, DeKalb Schools officials said students would make up the day's missed lessons with a virtual learning day. Decatur officials were unsure how they would recoup lost lessons.

MYAJC.COM: REAL JOURNALISM. REAL LOCAL IMPACT.

The AJC's Marlon A. Walker keeps you updated on the latest happenings in metro Atlanta K-12 news and DeKalb County Schools. You'll find more on myAJC.com, including these stories:

Never miss a minute of what's happening in state and local education. Subscribe to myAJC.com.

About the Author

Keep Reading

These kits are being distributed to public schools across Georgia to help students who suffer an opioid overdose. (Courtesy of Georgia Department of Education)

Credit: Georgia Department of Education

Featured

Ceudy Gutierrez reads a book to her 2-year-old son, Matias, at their home in Buford, GA, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. Ceudy Gutierrez is struggling to make ends meet for herself and her three young kids following her husband’s ICE arrest earlier this fall. (Miguel Martinez/ AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez