NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — School districts across Middle Tennessee are preparing for extremely cold temperatures this week.
Barring closures, many schools will be back open on Tuesday, when the temperature is expected to dip down to 10 degrees.
Not surprisingly, school districts are reading and reacting to these freezing-cold conditions.
In Robertson County, that includes a mobile bus-tracking app that tells parents how close their student’s ride is.
“They can actually receive a signal on their own phones, the app that they have on their phones, and they have the ability to set the parameters,” explained Danny Weeks, Director of Schools for Robertson County. “So they can say within a mile, mile and a half. That saves a lot of kids and families from being out in the cold weather in the mornings or afternoons.”
Weeks said the free app is not a GPS locator. Rather, it notifies parents who downloaded the app that their kid’s school bus is nearby.
Elsewhere, News 2 contacted Metro and Sumner County Schools about their cold weather preparations, but did not hear back on Monday.
Wilson County Schools said they are monitoring the weather conditions and have been preparing for any schedule changes these last several weeks.
Meanwhile, the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS) said schools will operate as normal on Tuesday, but officials are asking families to be prepared and have a plan in place if schedules are modified Wednesday.
And like many other districts, Macon County Schools confirmed they will start up their buses earlier and will have their maintenance department on red alert all week.
“We’ve asked our maintenance department to make sure that we keep our temperatures a little bit elevated [in our school buildings] over the night and throughout the week,” said Weeks.
Weeks is part of a superintendents group consisting of 16 local Directors of Schools, where they discuss policies, issues, and yes, the weather.
“On days like this, we’re texting early in the morning, and sometimes late at night,” Weeks told News 2.
Several Middle Tennessee school districts have announced they will be closed or have delayed start times on Tuesday, Jan. 21, due to the frigid conditions. To view the full list of closings, click here.
