Fulton County school officials said Friday their decision to close schools was a precautionary measure in case road conditions worsened this afternoon.
“We carefully followed the National Weather Service reports and thought we should err on the side of caution,” district spokeswoman Samantha Evans said in an interview.
Fulton was the only one of metro Atlanta’s largest school districts to suspend classes Friday. Evans said Fulton’s size, particularly the distance between north and south Fulton, raised concerns among district officials about the long distances some bus drivers would travel if the weather got rough.
“It was a decision to consider students’ safety first,” she said of buses traveling in inclement weather. “Safety is the priority.”
Fulton sent robocalls, first to employees, and then to parents announcing its decision to cancel classes. It then alerted news outlets and posted messages on its social media sites late Thursday.
Evans said last year’s fiasco, where some students were trapped on school buses for hours after a winter storm hit the region, was on the minds of some administrators before making its decision.
“We’re all kind of bruised from what happened last year,” she said.
Fulton has not yet set a make-up date, Evans said.
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