Georgia school closures: School districts cancel class, going virtual due to ice storm's impact

Many Georgia school districts have announced plans to either cancel class or move to virtual learning on Monday to avoid the hazardous conditions caused by the massive ice storm storm.

While many school districts were planning to wait until Sunday afternoon to decide what to do for Monday's classes, the announcements about cancellations started on Friday and continued as the storm got closer. 

School officials say residents should prepare for widespread power outages, fallen trees, and dangerous roads as the storm passes through the state on Saturday night.

Below are the current Georgia school closures or curriculum changes:

School closures

• Banks County Schools
• Bartow County Schools
• Calhoun City Schools
• Cartersville City Schools
• Cherokee County Schools
• Clarke County Schools
• Clayton County Schools
• Cobb County Schools
• Coweta County Schools
• Dade County Schools
• Dawson County Schools
• DeKalb County Schools (12-month employees should work remotely)
• Douglas County Schools
• Fayette County Schools
• Floyd County Schools
• Gainesville City Schools
• Gilmer County Schools
• Gordon County Schools
• Griffin-Spalding County Schools
• Habersham County Schools
• Hall County Schools
• Hart County Schools
• Henry County Schools
• Jackson County Schools
• Jasper County Charter System
• Lumpkin County Schools
• Madison County Schools
• Marietta City Schools
• Murray County Schools
• Oconee County Schools
• Oglethrope County Schools
• Paulding County Schools
• Pickens County Schools
• Pike County Schools
• Rabun County Schools
• Stephens County Schools
• Thomaston-Upson County Schools
• Walker County Schools
• Walton County Schools
• White County Schools
• Whitfield County Schools

Virtual learning

• Atlanta Public Schools
• City Schools of Decatur
• Fannin County Schools
• Forsyth County Schools
• Fulton County Schools
• Gwinnett County Schools
• Rockdale County Schools
• Rome City Schools (flexible learning day)
• Towns County Schools
• Union County Schools

Colleges and Universities

In Athens, the University of Georgia released a message encouraging its students to leave the residence halls for the weekend after their classes were done on Friday.

"Residence halls will remain open for students who choose to stay, but if there are power outages, water line breaks or other complications from the storm, University Housing may need to consolidate those who remain on campus into a limited number of temporary housing areas with emergency heat and meal services," the school said in a statement.

Over the weekend, the university canceled Monday's classes.

Emory University announced that its campuses, including Oxford College, will be closed over the weekend. On Sunday, the university announced that it would be moving to remote learning for Monday. Students who have in-person classes scheduled should contact their professors to learn if the classes will move online or be modified.

Georgia Tech is also moving to a digital learning day for Monday, with officials say all in-class learning should be virtual where feasible.

Here are other colleges that have announced they will be closing on Monday:

• Chattahoochee Tech
• Georgia Gwinnett College
• Georgia Highlands College (all campuses)
• Georgia Northwestern Technical College (all campuses)
• Gwinnett Technical College
• Kennesaw State University
• Reinhardt University
• University of West Georgia (on-site operations closed, classes and work will be virtual)