Gwinnett schools release earlier than planned; social media reacts
Tune in to Channel 2 Action News for the latest forecast at noon, 4, 5, 6 p.m. Eric Stirgus contributed to this story.
Gwinnett County schools announced an earlier dismissal Friday afternoon for students transported on school buses, in light of expected wintry weather.
Buses on standby in preparation for the storm picked up high school students earlier than planned. Middle and elementary school students, transported by bus, were also released about 10 minutes early, according to an announcement on the Gwinnett schools Facebook page.
As many of our buses were on standby due to the weather, they arrived at the high schools early and we were able to...
Posted by Gwinnett County Public Schools on Friday, January 22, 2016
The school system originally announced Friday morning that there would be no plans to dismiss students early due to inclement weather: "We will continue to monitor the weather and if a decision is made to dismiss early we will communicate that via news, web, and social media."
This decision brought some online criticism, incluidng a #closegwinnett Twitter and Facebook hashtag.
The district later canceled all after-school activities Friday evening, according to a Facebook announcement. SAT testing and all athletic activities scheduled for Saturday were also canceled.
Cobb, DeKalb and Fulton counties and Atlanta city schools had all announced early Friday closures by late Thursday.
Gov. Nathan Deal issued a state of emergency to close state offices at noon ahead of a wintry weekend.
