Schools across the greater Atlanta area closed early Friday in preparation for a major snow storm that was expected to bring snow and ice this weekend.
Gov. Nathan Deal proclaimed a state of emergency Thursday night that affects 21 counties in northern Georgia. Meanwhile, a winter weather advisory was issued for 24 other counties, including those surrounding Atlanta. WSB-TV published a list of 69 individual schools as well as school districts that were either closed all day or were closing early.
“We kept watching the weather patterns and I was informed that the superintendent was to be on a conference call with other superintendents, along with the governor last night,” said Rick Grisham, executive director of transportation for Cobb County Schools.
He added that that Superintendent Chris Ragsdale then quickly made the decision to close all schools two hours early on Friday rather than cancel classes altogether. An update was broadcast on the 10 p.m. news.
“We felt we needed to get students home well before the storm was supposed to come, which is near 6 to 7 p.m (Friday),” added Grisham.
He told STN Friday afternoon that the early release was “going well right now as we have begun our second tier of delivery,” with one last group to be picked and taken home by 2:30 p.m. local time.
Schools in northern, central and eastern Alabama were also closed or closing early on Friday due to the storm’s advance.
