Heroic Efforts to Support Our Students
On Wednesday, what all of the weather services predicted to be flurries turned out to be an accumulation of snow that froze on the roads and created havoc across Wake County. It was an exhausting day for students and their parents. It was also a day when many in our community made heroic efforts to provide for the safety and comfort of our students.
When winter weather strikes, our first priority is student safety. We dismiss early when we judge that road conditions will only further deteriorate. Roads became impassable due to ice and gridlock so quickly and for so long that some buses were unable to complete their routes, and other buses were finishing routes late into the night. Ultimately, the safest place for a number of our students was in the warmth and security of their schools.
Our community responded in a Herculean effort. Bus drivers, teachers and principals put students before their own families -- transporting, feeding, comforting, and watching over them through the long night. PTAs and school neighbors brought hot food and blankets. It was one of the most inspiring outpourings of compassion for students and families that I have ever seen -- in many respects, our finest hour.
To the bus drivers, teachers, principals, PTAs, neighbors, parents, and students who did so much to open their hearts in a difficult time, you have my undivided thanks.
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