An unexpected, snow-filled break had numerous North Carolina counties out of school for seven days starting in late January through Mid-February. Forecasters originally said the first flakes would fall mid-Tuesday, prompting Wake county to call off school January 28, yet the snow did not start until after dark that Tuesday.
“I don’t think it was a good idea to have the day off on Tuesday because we lost a teacher workday. It was very obvious from all the weather reports that the snow wasn’t going to fall until later that day anyway,” said Andrew Ellington, English teacher.
Having the temperatures in the single digits, a winter storm warning was in effect until that Wednesday morning. After receiving the news, Wake County School Board decided to have no school January 30. They agreed that the side roads and even the main roads were too icy and dangerous for buses to drive on. By Friday, the main roads were safe enough to drive on, but other roads were still not up to par with the normal driving conditions. The school board decided called off school for the fourth time that week.
The snow days have been rescheduled on teacher workdays in the upcoming months. Wake County School Board members tried not to interfere with Wake County students’ long spring break. Two of those days will not be made up because Wake County will still be able to reach their minimum number of school hours needed for the year. Wake County experienced additional winter weather on February 12 through the 14. The weather conditions were much harsher than the first snow storm. Over 167 vehicles in Wake County got stuck on the sides of the roads and had to be towed in the course of those three days. It would have been almost impossible for buses to drive in such conditions.
For more information about the make up snow days, you can go www.wcpss.net/ or call (919)-431-7400 for any weather-related questions.
