School districts prepare for icy weather and road conditions

KILLEEN, Texas (KWTX) - Colder temperatures mean potentially icy road conditions overnight, affecting local school times.

Taina Maya with Killeen ISD says the district is taking no chances with the roads tomorrow.

“A district of our size need to ensure that students and staff can get to and from school safely no matter where they’re coming from,” she said.

“We also want them to have a good educational day, so we don’t have a situation where they’re losing power and things like that.”

That’s why Killeen ISD and many large school districts already decided to delay the start of school by two hours, saying they’d rather monitor conditions safely and then reassess if needed. Maya adds this is particularly important for student drivers and district employees who live out of town.

“We’re of course always considering people traveling into our district to work in Killeen ISD and so we also look at the conditions up and down I-35 down Highway 1-95,” she said.

“We have a broader scope than most districts.”

However, what about smaller school districts? Rogers ISD Superintendent Joe Craig says his team followed suit with Killeen ISD and took a two-hour delay.

“Our Bell County superintendents stay pretty tight on these sorts of things,” he said.

“We do a weekly meeting online and it just happened to be today. So, this was one of the things we talked about in our zoom meeting, just kind of feeling each other out and see what you’re thinking.”

Most importantly, both districts say they wanted to give parents as much notice as possible so they could plan accordingly before work.

“Safety is always the number one thing we do and that goes to everything in the school business,” Craig said.

“So, nobody complains if there’s a delay and there’s no moisture on the ground, but if you try to start on time and have a little bit of ice or sleet, then sometimes people get very nervous.”

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