Most metro Atlanta schools reopen despite frigid weather

DUNWOODY, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Extremely low temperatures prompted a few Georgia school districts to delay the start of school by a couple of hours Wednesday. Clayton County students went virtual for the day. Most districts, however, reopened their buildings after Tuesday’s “snow day.”

An Atlanta News First crew followed behind a DeKalb County school bus before daybreak Wednesday. The driver made 10 stops, but only one child got on the bus.

Later, at Kingsley Elementary School in Dunwoody, many parents were seen dropping off their children.

Kendall Crye and her daughter Aubrey, who’s in the fourth grade, said they took some extra steps to prepare for the cold.

“That’s why we’re running late to school, because we had to drip all the faucets in the house,” said Kendall Crye.

“I’m wearing a long-sleeve shirt and a short-sleeve shirt on top,” said her daughter, who was also wearing a third layer – a warm jacket.

She and her classmates are returning to school after having stayed home the day before. The DeKalb County School District, along with most other districts in metro Atlanta, canceled classes Tuesday because of the early morning rain system that moved through, fortunately, just before roadways had time to freeze over.

District leaders, no doubt, didn’t want to take any chances. Many of them have vivid memories of the 2014 ice storm that shut down metro Atlanta interstates, leaving countless people, including buses full of children, stranded for hours.

Parents will need to bundle up their children for the remainder of the week and into Monday, as temperatures will continue to start out below freezing.

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