KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Knox County School system said a mid-morning National Weather Service report was the reason behind a sudden early dismissal Tuesday.
Knox County Schools announced the early dismissal around 12:20 p.m. on social media, only 40 minutes before elementary schools in the district were set to dismiss. Some parents picking their kids up at school Tuesday told WBIR they didn't receive a direct message from the school until 12:35 p.m.
In an email to WBIR, KCS shared this statement:
"KCS is committed to making decisions regarding a closure, delay, or dismissal as early as possible. The decision to close, delay, or dismiss early is based on various factors including weather forecasting and assessments made by our security and transportation staff, who are regularly monitoring potential inclement weather.
We received a report shortly after 11:30 am indicating that winds would start increasing to 20-25 mph in the early afternoon with gusts up to 40 mph in some areas. The decision was made for an early release to provide for a safe dismissal of all students.
The Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent of Operations, Assistant Superintendent of Strategy, Assistant Superintendent of Academics, Senior Executive to the Superintendent, Transportation Director and Chief of Communications were involved in the discussion.
With a district of our size, messages sent through our mass notification system to nearly 70,000 staff and families may take additional delivery time."
The National Weather Service released a message around 11:16 a.m. regarding the weather in the region. The message is pictured below.
The NWS has been calling for windy weather across the region, including in Knox County, since Monday. The agency confirmed that no wording about the current wind advisory in place was changed in the 11:16 a.m. update from what it had released earlier in the morning.
Multiple parents shared their disappointment in the relatively small timeframe between the announcement and dismissal on WBIR's Facebook post.
It'll be windy with mild off-and-on showers Tuesday afternoon and evening. Those light showers could transition into flurries overnight. It's unclear if KCS will be open or closed Wednesday.