Icy roads hamper Granville County school buses

Pictures from school administrators showed a half-dozen roads covered in snow and ice across northern Granville County. They were concerned road conditions would not improve by late Wednesday morning, which led to the cancelation of classes, said Stan Winborne, Granville County Schools spokesman.

“We’re talking about maybe as much as one-third of our students could be affected by just the small roads in that area for the bus route,” he said.

Cecile Newkirk, a mother of two elementary school students who lives in northern Granville County, disagreed with the district's decision.

“This morning, there was no problem,” she said.

The affected roads are maintained by the state Department of Transportation (DOT), which contacted the district Thursday morning.

“Obviously they were curious why we closed so they checked in to see what our status was and to coordinate some efforts,” Winborne said.

DOT treated the trouble spots Thursday afternoon. While the agency’s priority are interstate highways and primary roads, DOT trucks dropped 500 tons of sand and salt in Granville County since Tuesday night, said Steve Abbott, DOT spokesman.

Canceling classes is not an easy decision, he added.

“But we do it always knowing that our absolute priority is the safety of our students and staff,” Winborne said.

Newkirk, the parent, is all about safety but doesn’t believe canceling school was needed.

“I don’t know about other parents but I was a little perturbed,” she said.