Metro Nashville Schools Defend Opening Friday

NASHVILLE, TN — As a line of snow expected to be well south of Davidson County pushed into the Nashville area Friday morning, Metro Nashville Public Schools had already made the decision to hold classes. By the time buses were rolling — and in some cases, crashing — it was clear that was the wrong decision, leading to a quick reversal made just after the opening bell rang to dismiss students early.

MNPS Chief Operating Officer Chris Henson defended — and apologized for — the district's decision in a mid-morning press conference.

"We apologize, we realize that it has been very frustrating for everyone. The timing was very unfortunate as far as the weather change right in the morning of what we are going through in transporting students to school. The timing played the biggest impact as well as the forecast didn’t pan out. We are sorry, we understand that frustration and we share that frustration," he said.

The decision to open schools was made at 5 a.m., with the storm tracking south and west of the city and district officials charged with checking roads saying bus routes were passable. Shortly thereafter, the line pushed north, bringing flakes to Nashville just as students began to arrive.

"Hindsight is always 20/20, and if we knew that the weather conditions were going to worsen and not follow forecasts, we would have made a different decision," Henson said.

Officials said it was clear that early dismissal was going to be the right call, but because of the logistical complexity of managing more than 750 bus routes and schools with different start times, it was virtually impossible to immediately cancel school, leading to the three-tier schedule that saw high schools dismiss at 10:30, elementary schools at 11:30 and middle schools at 12:30.