Metro Atlanta school districts return to in-person learning after omicron spike

ATLANTA - Students in five major Georgia school districts will hop on the school bus Monday morning to go back to in-classroom learning.

This change comes after the omicron spike led a number of schools to start learning remotely following the holiday break.

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Just about every district is returning to in-classroom learning Monday, including Atlanta, DeKalb, Fulton, Clayton, and Forsyth County Schools.

Rockdale County is the only district with online learning and will stay that way all week - hoping to get its students back in the classrooms after Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The spike in cases due to the omicron variant caused many school districts nationwide to go to remote learning last week.

Fulton County Schools says it is still facing a staffing shortage as hundreds of teachers and other staff members called out after testing positive.

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All the remaining districts say they are beefing up cleaning protocols.

Next week, the Atlanta Public School System will put a "Test to Stay" program in place.

Health officials say teachers and eligible students should get vaccinated and boosted as soon as possible.

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"It's critically important to surround them with vaccinated people to provide them protection," Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle P. Walensky said.

While the Georgia Department of Public Health has not released updated numbers due to an ongoing issue with its Electronic Laboratory Reporting system, officials say on Jan. 6, over 18,500 new cases of the virus had been reported in the state in a single day. 

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