Several metro Atlanta school districts elected to start school a week later in 2019, adjusting their calendars and shortening midyear breaks so as to not change when school ends.

The DeKalb County School District, so far, is not among them.

As it stands, the district's students will report for the first day of school on Aug. 5, according to the calendar approved by the DeKalb Board of Education in 2018.

Atlanta Public Schools and Fulton County Schools officials approved 2019-2020 school year calendars that had classes beginning later than previous years. To accommodate without ending the year later, both shaved days from teacher planning and midyear breaks.

The moves were made as a Senate study committee considered school start dates, eventually recommending start dates within 10 days of September's Labor Day holiday, which takes place on the first Monday of the month. It would create longer summers for Georgia students, seen as better for businesses that depend on tourism and vacationers.

About the Author

Keep Reading

Students stand on a balcony at the John Lewis Student Center on the campus of  Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (Natrice Miller/AJC)

Featured

Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com