City Schools of Decatur Weather Make-Up Days Set

Got some local school news? Share it here in our Decatur-Avondale Estates School News space! 

“The first make-up day will be March 10th, which was previously a Teacher Workday. Now we will have school for students on that Monday. I am aware that many of you make plans early for the February and Spring breaks. To every extent possible, I am trying to leave those days intact. The second day will be Thursday, May 29th with the post-planning day moved to Friday, May 30th for teachers."

Here's the letter in its entirety from Dr. Edwards:

Dear Parents,

Thank you for your patience and understanding with regard to the school closures for Monday 1/6/14 and Tuesday 1/7/14. As any Superintendent will tell you, this is not a decision that we take lightly.

Our goal is to have school open and students attending classes whenever it is feasible. However, the safety and well-being of our students and staff takes precedence with inclement weather conditions.

On Monday, there were few metro systems who were worried about students getting to school because their calendars had workdays scheduled for staff. CSD was one of the only systems that had students returning to school on Monday. Naturally, the thinking is very different when determining how to handle such a situation when you are not considering the children. 

Sunday evening, the weather reports included rain overnight, high winds and freezing temperatures falling steadily throughout the morning. I made the call relatively early for Monday so that parents might be able to find alternate childcare. My main concerns at that point included the threat of icy roadways, dropping temperatures and the concern of high winds. High winds can cause the largest of trees to topple. This happened several years ago at Glennwood Elementary. A huge tree came down and landed parallel to the building. Thankfully, we were not in school.

On Tuesday, the weather conditions worsened with the temperatures dropping dangerously low. In this instance, I worry about students being outside for any length of time.

Most students in Decatur do not have clothing appropriate for skiing or visiting climates that have below freezing temperatures. All metro-Atlanta superintendents made the same call for Tuesday: no school for students.

Other factors included transportation, with buses unable to start in freezing cold temperatures and making sure that the buildings were properly heated. As we checked all buildings on Tuesday and Tuesday night, we found that several pipes burst. The fire department responded to a broken pipe at Oakhurst and in the process, the heat was cut off. We were able to rectify this situation early on Wednesday. Another pipe burst at the 4/5 Academy during the day on Wednesday. The fire department was called to the school.

Also in consideration are the driving conditions for our teachers and staff. The majority of our 600 employees live outside of the Decatur-city limits. From my point of view, I am concerned about their well-being, and also know that if they cannot get into school, this can create a supervision problem within the building.

With close to 4000 students and 600 employees, it is never an easy call. 

I know many of you are wondering about make-up days.  The first make-up day will be March 10th, which was previously a Teacher Workday. Now we will have school for students on that Monday. I am aware that many of you make plans early for the February and Spring breaks. To every extent possible, I am trying to leave those days intact. The second day will be Thursday, May 29th with the post-planning day moved to Friday, May 30th for teachers. 

While I am making this decision as early as possible so you can plan appropriately, I have no idea what the rest of the winter will bring us. Let’s hope we have seen the worst of it.

Thank you for your continued support of City Schools of Decatur!  

Sincerely,

Dr. Phyllis Edwards