Rockdale County Public Schools to remain closed through Oct. 9 due to BioLab chemical fire

ROCKDALE COUNTY, GA—Rockdale County Public Schools will remain closed through Oct. 9, in the wake of the BioLab fire, Superintendent Terry Oatts announced Thursday, Oct. 3.

Oatts said students will use three days as Independent Learning Days, Oct. 7-9, rather than return to classrooms as scheduled. Rockdale students have been on Fall break this week. Students did not go to school last Thursday, Sept. 26, or Friday, Sept. 27, due to Hurricane Helene. Oatts stated the following in communication to parents:

“We hope that you and your extended families are well after the hurricane and the Bio Lab fire. As you know, our community continues to be affected by the ongoing clean-up of the Bio Lab site. We have been closely monitoring the environmental impact as it relates to school operations and have made adjustments to activities during Fall Break.

As officials have stated, the air quality is unlikely to cause harm to most people; however, there are some people who may be affected by the chemical plume if they are in its direct path. Due to changing wind directions and other weather conditions, it is difficult to predict exactly where the plume will travel and for how long.

Due to this uncertainly, I have made the decision to change to Independent Learning Days for Monday, October 7th, Tuesday, October 8th, and Wednesday, October 9th. This decision is being made now to give our families and staff time to plan for these Independent Learning Days. School-based support staff and Central Office staff will also continue to work remotely.

Our buildings will remain closed, and district and school activities will be rescheduled. We have not been given a timeline for the completion of the cleanup, but we hope that we are able to resume normal operations later next week. We will continue to monitor their progress with cleanup and the environmental impact.

We ask that you continue to remain vigilant and stay tuned for more information from RCPS as it pertains to our school operations.”

Thank you, Dr. Terry Oatts