Zoom video outages disrupted the first day of virtual classes at Atlanta Public Schools.
The roughly 52,000-student district held its first day of school Monday. All students are learning remotely for at least nine weeks or until there’s minimal to moderate spread of the coronavirus.
But the first day back was made more difficult by service problems with the online video platform Zoom. The outage caused problems during the morning, but Zoom reported just before 1 p.m. that it had restored service.
Atlanta Superintendent Lisa Herring told reporters Monday that the outage made for “an interesting start” to the year. She said some teachers, including those at David T. Howard Middle School, were able to pivot and use Google Meet instead.
In a Twitter post, the district told parents and students that they should expect to hear from their school “regarding next steps and alternative ways for virtual learning.”
“This season is demanding that all of us maintain that level of creativity and that level of innovation,” Herring said.
Cobb and Marietta school systems also reported problems.
Zoom acknowledged the service problems. During late morning, its website reported partial outages for the Zoom meeting and video webinar services.
Herring, who became the APS superintendent on July 1, is scheduled to drop into a virtual Zoom session with an Atlanta elementary school at 2 p.m. as part of her first-day schedule.
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