Community Corner

POLL: Did School Officials Make the Right Call?

In light of the winter storm warning in effect for much of the metro area, should classes have been held on Jan. 28 and for those systems that dismissed students early, did they make the call early enough?

By Patch Editor Kristi Reed

Parents throughout the metro area are angry and frustrated that school officials failed to dismiss students early enough or cancel classes altogether in light of Tuesday's winter weather.

Much of the metro area was under a winter storm warning for Jan. 28. The warning advised potentially treacherous road conditions could develop during the day, yet most school systems held classes anyway. 

By mid-morning, several school systems, including Atlanta, Bartow, Cartersville, Cobb, Cherokee, Decatur, DeKalb, Forsyth, and Fulton among others, had decided to release students early. Marietta City Schools suspended bus services leaving hundreds of kids stranded at schools. However, the state's largest school system -- Gwinnett County Public Schools -- dismissed at its regular time despite deteriorating road conditions.     

"With over 169,000 students, plus their parents, and over 10,000 employees you would think the county could make the call a little sooner so everyone can plan their day. Why is Gwinnett always last to call it, even when it is obvious that it would be unsafe to have classes? The Governor declared a state of emergency hours before Gwinnett made the call," Tom Hunter wrote in a blog post on Patch.

Even in areas where students were dismissed early, parents complained the decision was not made early enough. In some cases, buses were not able to complete their routes and parents were unable to reach the schools, leaving hundreds of students stranded overnight.

Did school officials make the right call in holding classes on Jan. 28 despite the winter storm warning? Let us know in the comments or vote in our pollNote: This is not a scientific poll. It is for entertainment purposes only.

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