The Cobb County School District sent out word late Monday afternoon that classes will be extended by 45 minutes on Monday, Aug. 21, primarily for safety reasons, due to the first full solar eclipse to traverse across the United States since 1918:
Due to the solar eclipse on August 21, 2017, the Cobb County School District will delay dismissal of elementary, middle and high school students by 45 minutes.
The peak time to experience the solar eclipse falls during our regularly scheduled elementary school dismissal time. Since student safety is always our first priority we will start the day on time and delay dismissal to ensure that neither students nor employees are on the roadways during the time of the eclipse. Subsequently, high schools and middle schools will delay dismissal as well.
Schools will be provided with further guidance and instructional resources as appropriate. Parents are welcome to pick-up their child at the typical dismissal time if needed.
The eclipse is slated to cross over extreme northeast Georgia, with two minutes of totality expected over Blairsville, and 2:35 over Clayton. The eclipse is scheduled in Georgia between 2:34 p.m. and 2:40 p.m.
Gwinnett County schools also have made a similar decision to dismiss class later, for the same reasons as Cobb.
