Georgia schools are closed for the rest of the Fall semester, and schools are unsure if any will return face-to-face by the New Year. The Georgia Department of Education reports 2,235 school closures, shutting more than 1.7 million students out of the classroom. Governor Kemp signed an executive order mid-March of 2020 closing all public, elementary and post-secondary public schools in Georgia. The order – originally set to expire at the end of that month – has was extended through the end of the 2019-2020 school year, and indications are that the school system will remain shut down into 2021. Kemp has not made any statements regarding schools remaining virtual through Spring. But state school officials stated in an email sent to parents obtained by The Georgia Star News that teachers and staff should be ready for virtual learning, since opening back up on January 6 is unclear with the rise of COVID-19 cases. State School Superintendent Richard Woods said in a July statement, “Local districts have authority to chart their course for upcoming school year. Our role is to support them.” In a separate statement, Woods said, “we must choose compassion over compliance.” When schools started reopening at…
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