Cherokee Makes Decision About Jan 18 Classes

CANTON, GA — The Cherokee County School District will join its counterparts around the region and remain closed for Thursday, Jan. 18. The system said its decision is based on the National Weather Service issuing a special weather statement "warning of extremely hazardous driving conditions and the extension of the wind chill advisory."

System spokesperson Barbara Jacoby said the Cherokee County School Board will reschedule its Jan. 18 board meeting from 7 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The work session planned for that date has been cancelled.

CCSD's announcement follows Gov. Nathan Deal's decision to declare a state of emergency for the 83 north and central Georgia counties battling snow and icy conditions stemming from Tuesday's winter weather. While the precipitation is long gone, bitterly cold temperatures will ensure that any moisture left on the roads will refreeze.

Along with the school system, Chattahoochee Technical College will remain closed Thursday, and all day and evening classes are cancelled. The Northside Hospital-Cherokee Conference Center will open at 10:30 a.m. for a Cherokee Chamber of Commerce event slated to begin at 11 a.m. However, all county offices are planning to reopen at noon Thursday. Cherokee Charter Academy also said it's staying closed Jan. 18.

Other closures/changes include:

• Cherokee County DFCS office closed Thursday
• Cherokee County Health Departments in Canton and Woodstock open at noon Thursday. These delays and closing will affect all public health services in these counties, including Environmental Health, WIC and Child Medical Services.
• Reinhardt evening classes, both main campus and off-campus sites, are cancelled this evening, Wednesday, Jan. 17. A university spokesperson said the school plans to operate on a normal schedule on Thursday.
• City of Woodstock will resume normal operations on Thursday at its regular time. Waste Management will resume service on Thursday, picking up Wednesday customers on that day and Thursday customers on Friday. Friday customers will be delayed one day and will have their trash collected on Saturday.
• Canton City Hall will delay opening until 10 a.m. Thursday. Waste Management will also have a one-day delay for collection for the remainder of the week.

"Please remember that many county roads (especially side roads) remain dangerous," said Renee Cornelison, director of the Cherokee County Emergency Management Agency. "Temperatures will remain below freezing until around noon tomorrow. Extreme caution should be used if you must travel tomorrow morning.

While the threat of additional winter weather accumulation has passed, the dangerously cold temperatures that have settled into the area are here to stay for several more hours. The National Weather Service says the high temperature for Wednesday will reach 25 degrees. However, winds will be out of the northwest around 15 miles per hour, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Of course, these gusts will make the temperature feel like it's closer to 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

Wednesday's low will bottom out to 15, and the wind gusts will remain as high as 25 mph. Thursday's forecast call for the high temperature pushing to 41 degrees while the low dipping back down to about 23 degrees.

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