Despite the sleet and slippery roads, Rowan-Salisbury schools are operating on a normal schedule today.
This morning was a “worst case scenario,” Superintendent Dr. Lynn Moody said.
“Rowan County is one of those borderline counties,” she said.
Moody said she’s been up since 3 a.m. watching weather conditions, talking to other superintendents and consulting with crews checking the roads.
“I have to make the decision by 5:30 (a.m.),” she said, adding that at that time, “it was impossible to know” how bad things would get.
Moody said the temperature was 32 degrees, but it was only raining at that time. The weather forecasts she saw looked stable, and because the school system doesn’t cancel school for rain or cold, she made the decision for school to go on as usual.
“It changed on us quickly,” she said.
“Had we gone with a two-hour delay, our kids would have been on the road during the worst part of the storm,” she said.
Moody said she encourages parents to make the final call about whether or not their children attend school during inclement weather. Parents see the weather 30 minutes before children leave for school, rather than three hours before.
“They get an opportunity to look at it closer to the time than I do,” she said.
If they feel conditions are unsafe, “I encourage them to keep their child at home,” she said.
According to Moody, West Rowan Middle School lost power after students arrived and several other schools have partial power. West Rowan students are being kept in classrooms with natural lighting. Although they may have to be “creative” for lunch today, Moody said, West Rowan students will be fed lunch. Temperature is not yet an issue, she said.
China Grove Middle, she said, had moved the students from areas that didn’t have power to parts of the school building that did, and continued with the instructional day.
Moody said school system officials are monitoring the weather to find the best time to send students home today.
According to Technology Director Brenda McCombs, Kannapolis City Schools have not had any issues with the weather today. Students are operating on a half-day schedule for a pre-planned staff development day.