Heather Curtis
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON (WMAL) – There was some confusion for parents and kids at Montgomery County Schools Thursday morning when a two-hour delay turned into a full-day closure.

Originally school officials decided to delay school start times by two hours, but when conditions started getting worse and there were accidents on roadways, school spokesperson Gboyinde Onijala said they made the call around 8:30 a.m. to keep kids home for their safety.

The message came too late for some. A number of buses had already started their routes and had to take students back to their bus stops. Some students had already made it to their schools, but classes hadn’t begun. They had to get picked up.

“We understand that there were some challenges for families who had already made their way in to their respective offices operating under the assumption that it was going to remain a two-hour delay,” Onijala said.

The school system did get calls from frustrated parents, according to Onijala. She said these decisions aren’t made lightly and are based on keeping students safe.

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