As the ground grew white this morning, many parents were surprised to find school buses running on a regular schedule.
But Superintendent Dr. Wiley Doby and other Rowan-Salisbury administrators say freezing rain only started falling after they had to make the decision to hold school today.
“There was no rock salt out this morning. Kids were slipping on the sidewalk going into school,” said Regina Wilhelm, who drove her children this morning to Granite Quarry Elementary and Erwin Middle schools before going to work.
Bonnie Warren became concerned after her sister’s car fishtailed on a road that her son’s bus takes to Rockwell Elementary School. She said school has been canceled before in less hazardous conditions.
“Today it’s been worse than on days when they don’t” have school,she said.
Doby, who became superintendent of Rowan-Salisbury Schools last month, said he and his staff have to make the call whether to open schools between 4:45 and 5 a.m. so buses can run on schedule.
“This weather kind of caught us off guard,” he said. “Kids are actually safer at school than going home right now, because the forecast is for it to get warmer this afternoon. If it happened a little earlier, we could have made the call. But when the buses are already out, it’s hard to make that call.”
Jim Christy, who manages the school system’s fleet of some 200 buses, said no bus drivers reported having accidents this morning. Four drivers reported that they were immobile.
“Four called to report that they were stuck,” he said. “One couldn’t get up a hill. Drivers did a great job this morning. What really hurt us was that it came down so heavy within a short period. It really peppered us.”
Christy said that calling drivers to return students after they’ve already begun routes would be impossible.
Drivers carry cell phones for emergencies but don’t necessarily keep them on. In some remote areas of Rowan County, they can’t get a signal. The school system’s bus garage on Old Concord Road keeps phone numbers posted on bulletin boards.
Classes at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, Catawba College and Livingstone College ran on schedule this morning.
By 9:30, 1.5 inches of ice and snow had fallen. And Mike Mangan, general manager of Salisbury AM radio station WSTP, said he and his staff had answered some 300 calls from parents questioning the decision to hold school on schedule.
“We’ve been slammed all morning,” Mangan said. “We’ve had some calls pro and con, but the majority have been irate. It’s been chaotic.”
Wilhelm questioned whether Doby, who hails from Alexander County bordering the N.C. mountains, made the decision to hold school today because he’s accustomed to harsher winters.
“I think Dr. Doby needs to personally apologize to every parent,” she said. “I’m under the understanding that he’s from the mountains and he may be accustomed to driving in these kinds of conditions. I just hope this isn’t something we’re going to have to look forward to.”
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