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Sorting out the Indianapolis Public Schools class cancellations

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Parents with children in Indianapolis Public Schools were not very happy with the district Wednesday.

IPS waited until 9:30 a.m., after students from nearly 40 schools had already made it to school, to announce that it was closing.

The morning commute was nothing short of messy. But, that didn’t stop buses from hitting the streets. IPS sent out its first round of buses for its Tier 1 schools, which typically start at 7:20 a.m. Another round of buses went out for Tier 2 schools, which typically start at 8:15 a.m. Buses had picked up students going to 28 different schools before the district canceled classes for the day.

According to parents, for those students who attended classes Wednesday, it was a regular school day.

IPS only canceled classes at about 40 Tier 3 schools. Most of the Tier 3 schools typically start at 9:20 am.

Two hours earlier, Renee Shaw had already dropped off her daughter at Crispus Attucks High School.

“I was actually pulling out of the parking lot and then we go the call that it was canceled,” she said.

So, Shaw turned around to get her daughter.

“My husband thought it was for our daughter, and, so, he’s, like, bring her back home because school’s canceled. So, I came in, and it was a lot of confusion in the school.”

But, Crispus Attucks wasn’t canceled. Nor were any of the other Tier 1 and 2 schools.

The district said in a statement:

“As IPS transportation routes began this morning, buses encountered unforecasted inclement weather conditions creating untimely and dangerous circumstances. As we were starting our second tier school routes, staff received reports that road conditions were deteriorating and unsafe. At that time, a decision was made not to disrupt routes already in progress. However, due to the unexpected glaze of ice on roads, schools on our second and third transportation tiers were moved to a 2-hour delay.

“After further monitoring road conditions, staff determined routes were still unsafe and were not expected to improve. As a result, a decision was made to close impacted schools for the day. We regret the inconvenience and confusion this has caused our families and employees as we worked to ensure the safety of all.”

Some parents are giving the district a pass, while others are giving it a fail.

“They weren’t the only one because I saw some reports that DPW (Indianapolis Department of Public Works) was kind of behind the curve call too,” Shaw said.

Joe Nash has a child in IPS, too. He said, “I love the way you teach my children, but that was a pretty bad call this morning. Not a good one.”