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Forsyth County Schools remain closed Wednesday
ice
Citing the linger ice, road closings and power outages, Forsyth County school system officials made the decision to cancel school Wednesday.

Also

* Winter woes continue; thousands still without power.

* Photo gallery of winter storm damage.

FORSYTH COUNTY — The Forsyth County school system has announced schools will be remain closed Wednesday due to the lingering ice and frigid weather.

Jennifer Caracciolo, spokeswoman for the district, said 240-day staff should report to work only “if conditions are safe for travel.”

A decision concerning after-school activities and athletics, including several postseason high school basketball games, will be made midday Wednesday.

Students have been out all week so far. The threat of inclement weather forced Tuesday’s closure and Monday was the President’s Day holiday.

Superintendent Jeff Bearden and administrative staff monitored the weather throughout the day Tuesday before the call was made about Wednesday, according to Caracciolo.

Factors taken into consideration included timing and forecast predictions for snow and ice totals, building concerns and parking lot conditions.

The weather forecast calls for a possible slight warm-up Wednesday, with high temperatures reaching near 40 degrees before falling down into the teens Wednesday night.

According to Caracciolo, Wednesday will not be an “online/itslearning day because we have two inclement weather days built into the 2014-15 school calendar, March 16 and April 3.”

The two inclement weather days will have been Tuesday and Wednesday.

“If we have to close school for three or more days, those days will be [online learning days],” she said.

In November, the Forsyth County Board of Education’s announced that no inclement weather days would be built into the 2015-16 school calendar.

School district personnel have assured parents and the community that itslearning — the virtual, interactive online teaching portal — has been and will continue to be successful in retaining high-level instructional time even when schools must close and students submit assignments from home.

The decision to nix snow days came after students stayed home for at least a week last school year during snow and ice storms.

Some of that lost time was made up via two built-in inclement weather days and the elimination of one early release day. But parents didn’t want to sacrifice spring break or extend the school year.