It was the snow day without snow, the freeze without much ice, the chill that kept kids home.
Even with mostly clear roads, it was just plain too cold for kids in the heart of the South to go to school Tuesday.
Their frigid vacation was set to end Wednesday as temperatures were expected to rise into the relatively balmy 20s and metro area school officials deemed conditions safe enough.
Sure, folks up North go to school in knee-deep snow, but Atlanta schools prepared for the worst-case scenario of kids freezing at bus stops, classrooms losing heat and frozen pipes bursting. Faced with a decision that was sure to be second-guessed — especially with no snow in the forecast — school officials chose to play it safe and eliminate any danger to students unprepared for the cold.
“It was a little ridiculous they were off today,” said Maureen Gucky, whose five children attend Cobb County schools. “My kids are outside playing basketball. It’s kind of crazy. … The sun is out.”
Other parents said they were thankful schools decided to be cautious with the weather, even if it made Atlantans seem like they couldn’t take the cold.
“I know it seems crazy, because it’s just cold weather, but I didn’t want to be outside at 7 this morning catching a bus. I don’t know why we should expect children to do that,” said Brigitte Peck, whose two children attend Atlanta’s Sarah Smith Elementary in Buckhead.
“I had visions of buses not starting and pipes bursting on some campuses,” she said.
The extra time off came on the day when many school systems were scheduled to resume class after a two-week winter break. Instead of getting back to the classroom grind, kids had one more day of sleeping in while most school staff were expected to report for work.
A few school systems plan to add a make-up day later this year, but others may let the missed time slide.
School districts are allowed four emergency days off each year that they can choose to make up or not, potentially dropping them from 180 to 176 instructional days, said Matt Cardoza, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Education. Systems that drop below 176 days would have to seek a hardship waiver.
Superintendents made their decisions to close school after consulting with forecasters, police, bus drivers and school maintenance staff.
Dr. Sandra Ford, director of the DeKalb County Board of Health, said she was glad the local superintendent followed her advice to close school.
Ford lived in Detroit as a child and remembers going to school in frigid temperatures, but she said Georgia families are unprepared for extreme cold. Many children’s wardrobes include only light jackets, thin gloves and caps that don’t cover ears.
“In this type of weather, especially with the wind, it’s really dangerous,” she said. “At one point, it was 6 degrees, but the wind chill was minus 11.”
Noses, fingers, ears and other exposed extremities could succumb to frostbite within 15 or 30 minutes under such conditions, Ford said.
She also worried about the potential for bus mechanical failures stranding students around daybreak, the coldest part of the day. In her opinion, the health risks far outweighed the inconvenience for working parents. “I am a single parent, so I understand what it means when we close school,” she said.
Extreme cold can cause problems for school buses that run on diesel, which turns into more of a gel in chilling weather, making it difficult for buses to start, school officials said.
Atlanta Public Schools closed to ensure the safety of nearly half of the system’s 49,000 students who ride the bus and others who walk to school, spokeswoman Kimberly Willis Green said.
The reasoning was similar in Gwinnett County, where officials feared that buses would stall or classroom heating systems would fail, spokeswoman Sue Peterson said.
Some parents criticized school officials for overreacting.
“Why cancel school for the entire county under the assumption some kids might not be properly equipped with the right (winter) outfit?” asked Cindy Childress, who has two children in Fulton County elementary schools. “If you’re going to cancel school for cold weather, it should be because you can’t travel in the weather.”
But while a few people complained, most parents supported the decision to cancel school for a day, said Susan Hale, a spokeswoman for Fulton County Schools. She said the school system’s Facebook status update on the closure received 240 “likes,” which was a new record.
About the Author
