(Southaven, MS) For the second day in a row, DeSoto County Schools decided to cancel classes because of the weather, although school officials say Wednesday was a tougher call than Tuesday.
There was lots of slipping and sliding on the roads Wednesday morning, but the forecast predicted more snow and ice in the middle of the day so DeSoto County Schools didn’t want to take any chances with the commute home.
If you give kids two days off of school, most of them will take it.
“It’s like the weekend,” said Southhaven Intermediate School Student Justin Anders.
Justin got to tag along with his step-dad on a remodeling job.
“No school? Guess he is coming to work with me. Teach him the real life,” said Robert Short.
While the roads looked pretty clear by mid-afternoon, DeSoto County Schools made the call early in the morning to call off classes for all 41 campuses
“Well, we got started in the dark, looking at some rain and sleet coming down,” said John Caldwell, the director of transportation for DeSoto County Schoools.
At four in the morning, when most of us were sleeping, Caldwell, as well as 15 other safety supervisors, drove around all corners of the county to determine whether to call off school or not.
They found some reason to: “It was mostly in the South part of the county along the Coldwater River, any bridges that were crossing creeks or waterways.”
Caldwell says it was especially rough on bridges on I-69, one of the main reason DeSoto county students got to stay home now two days in a row.
“If we do err, it’s going to be on the side of caution. Safety’s first at DeSoto County Schools. We were concerned not only for the students but for the parents and teachers, anybody traveling to and from.”
As for Justin, he’s hoping two days off turns to three.
“How about school tomorrow? Are you looking forward to going back?” asked reporter Sabrina Hall.
“No,” said Justine.
Unfortunately for Justin, it looks school will be back on tomorrow.
DeSoto County Schools says it monitors the forecast and for now it looks to be all good.