Wake, Durham, Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools will close Friday as Hurricane Ian nears
Triangle school systems have canceled in-person classes on Friday because of the approach of Hurricane Ian.
The Wake, Chapel Hill-Carrboro, Durham, Orange, Johnston and Chatham county school districts announced that in-person classes on Friday and all weekend activities through at least Saturday will be canceled due to the expected severe weather.
While some districts will have students work from home, Wake and Johnston will not.
Ian is set to strike North Carolina on Friday and deluge the Triangle with 3 to 6 inches of rain over the weekend, possibly triggering flash floods and power outages from downed trees, The News & Observer reported.
“With expected wind gusts of 39 to 57 mph and potential for significant impacts from flooding, this will create hazardous conditions where we may not be able to operate schools safely,” the Orange County Schools system stated in its announcement.
Remote learning day
Under state law, school systems can have up to five remote instruction days that can be used for emergencies such as inclement weather.
Wake County says it will only use the online days as a last resort. It will use one of its “banked” days Friday and will not require a make-up day for instruction. Wake will only use remote days after running out of banked days and teacher workdays.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro is making Friday an optional remote teacher workday for staff. Employees may work remotely, take available leave, or work with their supervisor to make alternate arrangements.
Chatham County is making Friday a remote learning day. It will be asynchronous day (without live instruction) if schools lose power.
Durham is making Friday a remote and asynchronous learning day, meaning students will work from home but not receive live instruction. Schools will communicate with families regarding assignments and classes for Friday.
Johnston County will treat Friday like Wake County and not make it a remote learning day. The district will determine if a make-up day is needed.
Orange County teachers will send home devices for students in grades 3-12 to use. The students will have online work they can do from home Friday that will not feature live instruction. Students in grades K-2 will have take-home packets and information.
“Since we anticipate localized power outages, students may complete the lessons at another time to make up any missed instructional time, if they are in an area without power or internet connection after the storm,” according to the Orange County school system.
Orange County said it will update families and staff by 6 p.m. Sunday if any changes are made to next week’s school schedule. Friday will be a teacher workday for district employees.
