School officials blamed sub-freezing temperatures that allowed ice to linger on many roads.

Some other nearby school districts, including Iredell-Statesville and Charlotte-Mecklenburg, are operating on a regular schedule today.

Others, including Stanly and Davidson county systems, and Lexington and Thomasville city systems, remain closed.

Kannapolis City Schools are operating on a delayed schedule.

At least one offers a mix. Cabarrus County Schools are operating on a two-hour delay, except in Mount Pleasant, where the elementary, middle and high schools are closed.

“The road conditions in the Mount Pleasant area are much worse than any other part of the county,” Robert Kluttz, Cabarrus schools transportation director, said this morning.

Rowan County roads are in similar shape, and that’s what spurred the decision to call off classes today, said Gene Miller, assistant superintendent for operations.

“The reason we closed today is the roads in the eastern area are pretty bad,” Miller said. “Had it not been for those roads, we could have had school.”.

Main roads in eastern Rowan, including Bringle Ferry and Stokes Ferry, remain icy in patches, but are mostly clear, though Old Beatty Ford Road still has an ice patch over a half-mile long near Zion Church Road.

But Miller said the biggest concern isn’t the main roads.

“Other roads leading into those are just too treacherous,” he said. “I drove several roads yesterday that, even in a car, I didn’t feel comfortable on.”

Operating on a delayed schedule would have been impossible because temperatures remain below freezing and actually worsened conditions in some spots overnight, he said.

Though a few icy spots remain in western Rowan, Miller said school system administrators considered opening some schools and keeping others closed today.

But, he said, neither he nor Schools Superintendent Dr. Joe McCann favored the idea.

“That would create a lot of confusion, and then you have several different calendars,” Miller said. “We felt like the confusion was not worth the effort right now.”

Work crews from Rowan Correctional Center cleared Rowan schools’ walkways of ice on Wednesday

The N.C. Department of Transportation is spreading sand and slag on the remaining icy patches of roadways today.

Miller said he hopes the schools can salvage at least one day this week.