HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) – You may wonder why school systems call a delay for cold weather, even though it’s just as cold after the delay. We took that question to the Horry County School District.
Teal Britton, with Horry County Schools, told us her and her colleagues concern is not for equipment, schools, or even buses. However, their concern is for the children who ride those buses every day.
For example, Jatasha Davis is a single mom who lives in Carolina Forest. Every morning she takes her first grade daughter, Simone, to the bus stop. Davis says when the weather is nice, they’ll walk, Thursday morning, they did not.
“It just depends on the weather, but lately we’ve been driving to the bus stop, but it’s just right there at the front of our complex so it’s not that far.”
Davis says she agrees with Horry County’s decision to delay school for two hours even if it was just for low temperatures. She says, if anything, at least her and her family got to catch up on sleep.
“It was really cold this morning when we went out for school, but we bundled up (with) gloves, hats, coats, we’re not used to that weather.”
Shortly after announcing their decision to delay school for another two hours on Friday, Horry County Schools officials posted an info graphic about what lead them to that decision, and other closing decisions, on their Facebook page. Britton says people will always criticize the school system for closing too soon or too late. She says there’s no way to satisfy everyone.
“I don’t think there’s anyway to make a change that doesn’t have an impact on a group of people and we try to think about those things clearly,” said Britton.
She says one way the school system hopes to help parents who have to get to work on time, even with bus-riding-students, is by opening schools at their normal times so students can be dropped off. But, she says there’s not a specific protocol the school system follows when determining whether to delay or close schools during winter weather or cold temperatures.
“No weather situation is exactly the same, so each one of those decisions is made individually based upon the best information we have available to us (and) experience that we have had under our belt.”
“From someone who lives in the South, and is from the South, I’m used to 70 (or) 80 degrees and ready for the spring time,” said Davis.
Britton says there is some instances where protocol occurs, however. She says Horry County schools get “winterized” every year before cold temperatures set in on the Grand Strand. She says maintenance crews and transportation crews start their days even earlier than normal on days with two-hour delays. She says they make sure buses are warm and heat works properly in all the buildings.
As for recess, Britton says whether or not to let students play outside when they’re at school is up to an individual school’s principal. She says some principals have guidelines they follow that are different than the district-wide delays.