Social Circle City Schools will start nearly a week later than originally planned as the system gears up for a school year dominated by safety measures to try and prevent further spread of COVID-19. 

The Social Circle Board of Education passed a revised calendar Thursday night at its monthly meeting that will move its starting date from the planned Aug. 5 to instead Aug. 10 to give teachers a longer lead-in time to finish lesson planning and brace themselves for the various social distancing rules being put in place to deal with the ongoing pandemic. 

New rules and regulations for the coming school year include students no longer using lockers to prevent congregating in the halls; no use of printed textbooks, with students instead receiving all class materials on their electronic devices as part of the system’s 1:1 technology initiative; increased cleaning schedule, as the system moves to fully sanitize the school buildings every evening after students are out of the building; and other steps to try and keep coronavirus off the school campuses. 

Social Circle will also be offering virtual learning for those students who signed up for receiving instruction digitally off-campus. Students who signed up for distance learning will have to finish the nine-week or semester period, depending on the school, before they can choose to change their option to attending school on campus once more. 

The board passed the revised calendar unanimously.