Orange County Schools will once again hold no instruction on Tuesday, Dec. 9, amid freezing temperatures and precipitation, while Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools will operate on a two-hour delay.
Orange County Schools issued an alert at 6:15 p.m. saying it would closed to students and staff for the second consecutive day, with all after-school and on-campus activities canceled.
“Conditions are worsening on secondary roads, with snow and ice continuing to fall [Monday] evening,” read the message to families. “We are following a Winter Weather Advisory through 12:00 p.m. Tuesday due to rapidly falling temperatures and hazardous travel conditions.
CHCCS issued an alert at 5:11 p.m. to students, families and educators, instructing them to prepare for potentially slick road conditions after wet areas likely freeze overnight. Since Chapel Hill, Carrboro and the surrounding communities saw little snow on Monday, CHCCS plans to allow everyone extra time to get to school safely.
Additionally, Chief Communications Officer Andy Jenks said the school system will hold regular instruction on Wednesday, Dec. 10, despite that day previously being marked as a teacher workday.
“With the amount of planned and unplanned time off lately,” he wrote in the alert, “turning Wednesday into a regular school day is a sensible option under these circumstances to ensure that teaching and learning continue with as little disruption as possible. Teacher Workdays are still essential for planning and professional learning, and we’ll work with our staff to make sure they still get that time in other ways.”
With the two-hour delay, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools will follow this schedule:
- Elementary schools start at 9:50 a.m. and dismiss at the usual time of 2:35 p.m.
- Middle schools start at 10:25 a.m. and dismiss at the usual time of 3:20 p.m.
- High schools start at 10:55 a.m. and dismiss at the usual time of 4 p.m.
- Buses come two hours later than they normally would.
The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for much of central North Carolina on Sunday, which went into effect from Monday morning through Tuesday at 12 p.m. Following expected precipitation on Monday, the NWS warned of the chance of seeing slick road conditions and a flash freeze possible on Monday evening.
Tuesday marks the second “snow day” for Orange County Schools, after it and other public systems in the Triangle region cancelled operations on Monday, Dec. 8 out of concern for road conditions for releasing students and staff at the end of the day. Orange County, Chatham County and CHCCS also all operated on a two-hour delay on Friday, Dec. 5 as a result of winter weather forecasts overnight Thursday.
North Carolina public schools are not required to have an allotted amount of snow days – with each district, instead, required to have either 185 days or 1,025 total hours of instruction. Each school system is allowed five remote learning days a year and can construct their calendar to have buffer days to be used for making up instruction as necessary.
Winter Weather Safety Tips
During severe winter weather, the North Carolina Department of Transportation urges people to avoid traveling during storms unless “absolutely necessary.” For those who do venture onto snowy or icy roads, the state department requests people drive at slower speeds, leave plenty of room between themselves and others, and clear all ice or snow from a vehicle before traveling. If you become stranded while driving, safely pull off the road, remain in your vehicle and call for help. More safety tips regarding winter weather driving and traffic updates from the state department can be found here.
During periods of freezing temperatures, there are several warming centers and overnight offered to Orange County community members to rest and stay safe. IFC has shelters available in Chapel Hill every night, and the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness organizes shelters any night where temperatures are set to reach 32 degrees Fahrenheit or below. From 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., those needing a warm place to stay can utilize the 828 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard building in Chapel Hill, St. Matthews Episcopal Church on Hillsborough’s St. Mary’s Road, or Hillsborough Presbyterian Church on West Tryon Street.
Photo via the Orange County Government.
Ready.gov, a website through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, offers several safety tips for staying warm, keeping power, and enduring inclement winter weather. More information can be found here.
Featured photo via Matherly Collins/The Daily Tar Heel.
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