Superintendent says too early to tell how Irma will affect schools

Published 1:03 pm Wednesday, September 6, 2017

It’s too early to make a call on next week’s school schedule, Decatur County Superintendent Tim Cochran said. He is keeping a close eye on the Hurricane Irma radar, though, and will react accordingly depending on its trajectory.

“We definitely are following it, as we do any type of weather issues that we have come through,” Cochran said.

A decision on whether to cancel school and when will be made as more information becomes available, Cochran added. He is optimistic Irma won’t affect Decatur County too badly, but he’ll know for sure by the end of the week.

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“We are monitoring the storm and we’ll make decisions when we can,” Cochran said.

An official announcement from Cochran will be made later today on the school system’s Facebook page.

Grace Christian Academy Head of School Rob Starner said GCA will follow suit in whatever the Decatur County School System decides. Some families have students split between GCA and the public schools, so keeping both systems on the same page is in the best interest of the community.

“We have students that crossover from families back and forth,” Starner said. “Even though we don’t have the transportation issues (Decatur County does) with buses, we still have families that travel significant distances.”