CCS closed to staff on Tuesday due to potentially unsafe roads

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PITTSBORO — Chatham County Schools will be closed for staff on Tuesday "out of an abundance of caution and due to very likely potential for unsafe road conditions," the district said in a release Monday afternoon.

Tuesday was originally scheduled as an optional teacher workday, including Chatham Center for Innovation (CCI) staff; Wednesday is a required teacher workday for high school staff, including CCI, and required staff development for K-8 staff.

Students and staff alike are off Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, with students off until Thursday due to the teacher workdays.

"Information related to the makeup schedule will be communicated by district and building-level supervisors once we have returned to our normal operational schedule," said Nancy Wykle, CCS public information officer.

Chatham Charter School, in Siler City, will also be closed on Tuesday due to lingering weather effects, the school announced late Monday afternoon.

"There will not be instruction for students," Executive Director for Communications & Collegiate Partnerships Beth McCullough said. in an email release. "All athletics will be canceled for the day and the campus will be closed."

At the time of publication, no notifications from Chatham's other two charter schools had been emailed to the News + Record or posted online regarding Tuesday weather plans.

Though students already had Tuesday off, the district recently presented its plan for remote learning expectations in the event of inclement weather at a Dec. 13 board of education meeting.

CCS can offer remote learning options during inclement weather days for students, the district said, but teachers are not required to hold live Zooms, meaning work can be asynchronous. Due to the district’s 1:1 initiative, every student has been assigned an electronic device. Still, some students don’t have reliable access to internet. To account for that, students have five days after an inclement weather day to turn in work under the district's new policy.

The state allows for up to five remote learning days in the 2021-2022 school year calendar.