staff file photo
Parents are ready for these little guys to go back to school.
School systems were painstakingly trying to determine Tuesday whether buses could shuttle students safely today. And after three days of being cooped up with their overexcited kids, parents were ready for classes to resume. But schools in Durham, Wake and Orange will remain closed Wednesday because of road conditions.
That's not what many beleaguered parents spent the day hoping for. After three days of being cooped up with their overexcited kids, some moms and dads were practically blowing their hot breaths on ice-covered streets to ensure school buses would start running again.
"I'm not happy about it. My road is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful," Kim Philbeck of Raleigh said Monday afternoon after hearing that schools would be closed again. "I told my 8-year-old that I will walk her to school, and I will open the class and teach her!"
Gwendolen Gray of Chapel Hill could relate. She spent Monday at home with her five children, ages 16 to 3, plus two of their friends and the family dog.
"Ohhh, I'm ready for school to start," said Gray, adding that the family had spent the weekend sledding, baking and watching movies.
"I just sent them out to walk the dog as a big group - one dog, seven kids: 'Go have fun,' " she said.
Taking caution
School leaders said a lot goes into deciding whether the buses will roll.
"Ultimately, we're trying to determine how much melting occurs and how much will freeze again overnight," said Greg Thomas, a spokesman for the Wake County Public School System. "They will want to err on the side of caution for student drivers, who might not be very experienced."
Parents also need to remember that in large school systems, roads may be clear in one area but slippery and dangerous several miles away. Each system has specific trouble spots it checks.
"We have staff driving around, checking conditions in certain areas ... especially areas shaded by pines," said Michael Gilbert, spokesman for Orange County Public Schools.
Today, school transportation officials will be out again, trying to determine whether schools open Wednesday. Wake, in its announcement, offered parents a little hope. Should classes be held Wednesday, officials said, schools will not observe the usual early release day.
Philbeck, with five daughters ages 17 to 2 in the house, jokingly said she was ready to start drinking when she heard they were facing a fourth day of family togetherness. "I have five girls, so there's lots of drama."
Praying for education
Her neighbor, Becky Felton, a mother of a 4-year-old and an 8-year-old, said she had enjoyed the family time over the weekend, when they went sledding and attended a neighborhood potluck and bonfire.
But by Monday, Felton, who works from home, said the snow days were getting old.
"I'm praying we have school tomorrow," she said about noon.
She got her wish when the 8-year-old's school, Magellan Charter School, opted to have school today on a three-hour delay.
"I can deal with 3 hours," Felton said.
No doubt many other Triangle parents are a bit jealous.
