Message from the Superintendent: Follow Up to Jan. 8 School Closing

January 8th, 2025

The following was sent to the HCPSS community by HCPSS Superintendent Bill Barnes on Jan. 8, 2025:

I hope you and your families are staying safe during this weather event. I wanted to share additional information regarding my decision to close schools today.

It is always my intention to open schools on scheduled days and the decision to close is never an easy one. Any day we are closed impacts academics of course, but also denies students with meals and, in some cases, a warm place to be for the day. Further, there is undoubtedly a challenge for you, parents and guardians, to ensure your children are cared for when you are expected at work.

Overnight snow drifts and sub-temperatures lead to refreezing. Road conditions were unsafe for even the most experienced drivers and certainly not for our student drivers. Additionally, throughout the county, many sidewalks and pathways remain uncleared, putting students walking to schools or bus stops at risk.

I am very proud and appreciative of the work our staff members have done to ready our schools for reopening. Grounds and Custodial teams have worked tirelessly this week to clear school parking lots and sidewalks, ensure proper heating, and generally prepare to open. Our Transportation staff have driven the county in pre-dawn hours and throughout the days to conduct actual road and weather condition assessments.

Every one of our schools are ready for students and, external conditions permitting, it is my goal to reopen on Thursday.