The threat of bad weather from Tropical Storm Gordon closed hundreds of schools across the New Orleans area Monday and Tuesday.
As it turned out, the region was spared major impacts from the storm as it made landfall near the Alabama-Mississippi border.
With the sun shining on Wednesday, many parents wondered if the decision to cancel classes two days in row was the right one.
Many students and their parents used the unexpected days off to enjoy the playground at City Park.
"I can't say if it's the right or wrong decision," Valerie Kennedy said. "Obviously, looking at it now, we should have been in school, but I think they were just looking out for the kids."
"Last two days were great days," Tiffany Rachal said. "I think they definitely need to watch the systems a little bit better before making hasty decisions."
Unplanned school closures are difficult for many working parents who either have to take a sick day to care for their children or find a relative or babysitter to watch them on short notice.
"Parents have to plan. Everyone doesn't work in schools, so you have to find arrangements for your children while you're still out providing an income for them," Daniel Meekins said.
Meekins is not just a parent. he's also an assistant principal at Booker T. Washington High School in New Orleans.
"We don't want to waste those days," Meekins said. "We'll find a way to make those two days up. At the end of the day on top of learning, our first priority is safety."
Jefferson Parish School Superintendent Cade Brumley isn't second guessing his decision to close schools the past two days.
"I'm a dad, myself," Brumley said. "So, I had to make arrangements myself. We feel like it's better for families if we notify early, rather than making a last minute call and then families have to figure out what to do."
Brumley said Jefferson Parish school officials were originally expecting 50 mph winds just as schools were letting out on Tuesday.
Then, he said, the National Weather Service upgraded the storm to a possible Category 1 hurricane hitting the New Orleans area overnight.
"Obviously, when you look at today, you absolutely could have had school," Brumley said. "What I had to look at is the fact that given the information that I had in the time we had to make the decision, I would make the exact same call again."
Most schools were scheduled to reopen on Wednesday.
Below is Brumley's full statement on his decision to cancel school Tuesday:
Jefferson Parish Schools Family,
I hope this finds you well. Thankfully, we were spared from Tropical Storm (TS) Gordon, realizing our neighbors in Mississippi are experiencing the brunt of impact and aftermath. We keep them in our thoughts and prayers.
Unfortunately, we lost two days of instruction this week as our schools were closed on both Tuesday and Wednesday. A reasonable question, given the beautiful weather on both days, would be “why?”. Clearly, we could have held school on both days – no doubt. This letter is not a defense of my decision; it’s simply rationale behind my decision. Safety is my top responsibility as superintendent.
After monitoring TS Gordon throughout the weekend, meteorologists and government officials became increasingly concerned about trajectory and intensification. At 4 p.m. on Monday, I met with parish leaders at the Jefferson Parish Emergency Operations Center in Gretna. At this time, we learned wind could be in excess of 50 MPH after 2 p.m. the next day (Tuesday). With this, I cancelled school for Tuesday. My concern was getting students and employees home safely. Winds in excess of 30 MPH can have a negative impact to safely operating a bus, and our walkers could have faced flying debris or anxious drivers placing them in danger. Thankfully, these dangerous winds never developed.
On Tuesday, just before noon, I gathered with our school system’s Operations and Emergency Planning leaders. We held a conference call with our weather partners and learned that TS Gordon had cleared Florida, entered warmer waters in the Gulf of Mexico, and was expected to make landfall as a Category 1 Hurricane. Specifically, we believed the most significant impact to Jefferson Parish would be between 10 p.m. Tuesday night and 3 a.m. Wednesday morning with winds in excess of 50 MPH and gusts to 70 MPH. Given this information, there was no way our team could guarantee all the strong winds would have passed prior to our 6 a.m. bus start times. Further, we could not assure buildings would be safe or have electricity and water on Wednesday morning. I decided to cancel school for Wednesday. I also knew some families might choose to evacuate and I wanted to provide them with time for that choice. From a district management standpoint, we prepared teams to access every school on Wednesday, assess damage, and ready them for a normal start on Thursday. We also built inclement weather days into our calendar, so no makeup days are needed as a result of these last two days off. We were logistically and tactically prepared.
School closure decisions are fluid, complicated, and never easy. As we all know, weather is unpredictable. This week, closure turned out to be unnecessary – I understand that and it’s “on me.” I took the best information available at the time and made the most reasonable decisions. I’ve developed my decision-making process over six years as a superintendent and will continue to make judgements with an abundance of caution for the safety of our 50,000 students and 7,000 employees.
We look forward to welcoming our students and employees back tomorrow morning, Thursday, September 6. Thanks for allowing our system to serve – we intend to do it well.