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Posted on Mon, Jan 28, 2013 : noon

School closings update: Washtenaw County schools cancel afternoon, evening activities

By Danielle Arndt

After canceling classes for the day, some Washtenaw County school districts began sending out a second round of notifications Monday morning regarding afternoon and evening activities.

There will be no athletic practices or events at Ann Arbor Public Schools. All Community Education and Recreation activities also have been canceled.

However, the memorial celebration for Rose Martin, who died Jan. 22, will take place at 6 p.m. Monday as planned at Pioneer High School. Martin was a co-founder of the Ann Arbor nonprofit Peace Neighborhood Center.

AAPS spokeswoman Liz Margolis said for consistency, whenever the district cancels class for the day, the schools are closed for the entire time, no exceptions.

"A few years back, we used to assess every event and try to determine which ones could go on, which buildings were OK," she said. "But then you'd have an event here but not there, and it just wasn't equitable. And it's easier to have no practices or anything at any of the schools."

The service for Martin is the one exception Monday. Margolis said the district did not think it was appropriate to disrupt this special event. The memorial celebration is not school-sanctioned, but is being organized by the Peace Neighborhood Center. The Center is renting the facility from the district.

Mack Indoor Pool at Ann Arbor Open School also will remain open, and groups may conduct practice per usual Monday evening. The pool has a separate entrance from AAO and is a city-maintained and operated pool.

Chelsea School District tweeted that all middle school activities events and athletic practices have been canceled Monday "due to current icy road conditions and impending fog." High school sporting events also have been canceled. High school practices will take place as scheduled on an optional/voluntary basis, according to the district's website.

Dexter Community Schools also canceled all activities for the afternoon and evening, including Community Education basketball, cheer clinic, music lessons and rentals. Dexter Community Education will contact participants regarding make-ups, its website says.

All Dexter middle school athletic practices and activities were canceled. High school athletes were instructed to contact their coaches for information about their teams.

Afternoon and evening activities at Lincoln Consolidated Schools will take place as scheduled. Superintendent Ellen Bonter said the determination was made that the main roads are not that bad anymore.

"Certainly if parents don't want their kids on the roads that's understandable and that's their decision to make. I live on a back road and it's like a wet ice rink," she said. "But right now, we're going to go ahead with our events since there is not a blizzard or anything coming later today that would create a dangerous situation."

All but one of the sports contests scheduled for Washtenaw County high school teams have been cancelled due to the inclement weather. The Milan High School girls basketball team still will host New Boston Huron in a Huron League contest. Tipoff of the varsity game is scheduled for 7 p.m. All Southeastern Conference bowling contests and the Rudolf Steiner girls varsity basketball team's game against Howell Charyle Stockwell Academy were cancelled.

Most Washtenaw County districts called off classes Monday after a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain fell Sunday night. Whitmore Lake schools had a scheduled day off, but all activities were canceled at the Whitmore Lake Community Pool, run by the Community Recreation Department. Eastern Michigan University canceled classes that started before 12:30 p.m. Washtenaw Community College closed its Dexter, Brighton and Hartland campuses, but kept its main campus open.

Sports reporter Pete Cunningham contributed to this story.

Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.

Comments

jns131

Tue, Jan 29, 2013 : 3:30 p.m.

It was a no brainer to call off schools for the day since the only thing open in AAPS was the elementary. Teachers enjoyed a day off because on Tuesday they have a professional day. Giving those who don't have to go and drive children in this wet weather? A chance to stay home and enjoy themselves. We all will return Wednesday morning to start the final 6 month push of the school year.

Janis

Tue, Jan 29, 2013 : 2:30 p.m.

AAPS spokeswoman Liz Margolis said for consistency, whenever the district cancels class for the day, the schools are closed for the entire time, no exceptions. If that's the case, why not just say in the morning that all activities throughout the day and evening are cancelled? Why wait for a second round of notifications?

jns131

Tue, Jan 29, 2013 : 3:30 p.m.

Because school in AAPS is closed because teachers are doing their professional day thing.