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Sudden winter weather calls for early school dismissal

CONCORD, N.C. — As the winter weather picked up Monday morning, many families rushed to their children's schools to pick up their kids, or home to get them off the bus.

[LINK: Closings]

Officials at Cabarrus County Schools, Iredell-Statesville School, Hickory and Rowan-Salisbury Schools made a last-minute decision Monday morning to let classes out early, just as many students were getting to school.

"My daughter is at work at CMC-Main," grandparent Tanya Kirk said while she was waiting at a Cabarrus County School pick-up line. "So (she) called me and asked me, 'Could I come get him, because they were getting out at 12:15 p.m.?'"

"I had to stop what I was doing," another grandparent said. "I'm sure there's a lot of people at work, trying to do what they have to do, or far away. Even if they're going home on the bus, you don't want your child to go home to an empty house."

Many of the districts said the rapid change in weather forced the call.

"Our district was not originally included in the winter weather advisory this morning,” Cabarrus County Schools officials said. “Around mid-morning, the National Weather Service updated the advisory to include Cabarrus County after seeing changes in the weather in (our) area (sleet, snow). Once we were included in the advisory and began experiencing snow in parts of the county, the decision was made to release students early."

Hickory Schools officials said they were just expecting cold rain, but that changed around 7 a.m.

"By that time, our buses were already on the road, and we had to wait for their return before dismissing for the day," school officials said. “We typically make our decisions at 6 a.m. It was not an easy morning, but safety remains our top priority."

Iredell-Statesville Schools officials echoed a similar response.  A representative said that they didn't expect the winter weather but when it took a turn, they made the tough call, and they understand it is difficult for families.