By having school on Tuesday, Christ Church disregarded the warnings given by law enforcement officers, got in the way of the police and repair efforts, and put their students’ lives in danger.

Christ Church, along with all of the other schools in Greenville, got Monday, September 11, off from school because of hurricane Irma. Monday saw heavy rain, fast winds, and widespread power outages all over the county. In Greenville, 10,000 people were without power Monday night. On roads, numerous traffic lights were out and debris covered the back roads. Because of these conditions, Greenville County Schools announced on Monday night that they would be closed on Tuesday, the 12th. In making this decision, Greenville County consulted with the police department, who felt that it was not safe to have school. The Police Department pointed out that repair crews will not be able to start clearing road roads or restoring power until 4:00 am. Greenville County Schools also says on their web site:

“We also know that additional traffic generated by student and employee commutes strains law enforcement and hampers response and repair efforts.”

Private schools also got Tuesday off: St. Joseph’s Catholic School, which is less than 2 miles from CCES, was also closed. Greenville County Schools and St. Joe’s pulls from the same demographics as Christ Church, meaning that Christ Church students were driving on the same roads that police deem unsafe.

If the police department warned that school be cancelled and virtually every other school in the county was closed, why was Christ Church still having classes? If the police have also said that having school will make it harder to return power to the thousands of Greenvillians who don’t have electricity, why should we make their already difficult job harder?

I am one of those people who didn’t have power on Monday and Tuesday. On my way to school on Tuesday, I drove through several intersections where the lights still did not have power. On the backroads, debris made it impossible for two cars to drive in opposite directions. Therefore, does CCES really think that these are safe driving conditions?

*This opinion piece does not reflect the views of the entire CCES community, nor the CCES journalism staff. This is the product of one individual sharing their thoughts. This is not intended to be offensive to any individual or group.