Rutherford County Schools (RCS) will be closed on April 8th due to the solar eclipse.
“In the abundance of caution and making sure we are keeping our kids safe, especially during dismissal and to provide efficiency with our operations, Rutherford County Schools will be closed on April 8, 2024,” announced Dr. Jimmy Sullivan, RCS Director of Schools in a video.
Dr. Sullivan explained the district explored several options for April 8, including an early release day, keeping students in school and providing glasses or canceling school for the day. However, the decision came down to safety.
“The first option was to stay in school and make sure we were providing glasses for our students. As we continued to look through that option, it really became evident that wasn’t the best for the safety of our students. When we were looking at the timing of the eclipse, the eclipse will start at 12:44pm in the Rutherford County area, it will be at its maximum viewing around 2:03pm – 2:04pm and that will be at about 94% complete and then it is scheduled to end around 3:30pm. As you’re aware that is right in the middle of all of our dismissals and most importantly, it’s right in the middle of our elementary dismissal. We transport between 25 – 30,000 students every single day on our buses and we want to make sure that our students are safe.,” Dr. Sullivan said.
Regarding an early release day, Dr. Sullivan said he has heard from parents throughout the years, that early dismissal days are chaotic with parent’s schedules.
The district received approval from the Tennessee Department of Education to use an inclement weather stockpile day to close on April 8. RCS has three remaining stockpile days.
You can watch Dr. Sullivan’s full remarks below.
