news-record.com

GREENSBORO — Ask Jeff Harris if it’s a darned-if-you-do, darned-if-you-don’t decision to delay the opening of school or dismiss early because of the threat of winter weather, and you’re likely to get a definitive “Ha!”

As the school district’s director of transportation , Harris is a key player in the almost-always-contentious weather call, one he helped make Friday when the district decided to dismiss school two hours early .

The district waited until the wee hours of the morning to make the decision after Harris spoke with a meteorologist from the National Weather Service at 4:30 a.m. Weather officials said they expected the storm to begin about 7 p.m., and Harris made the call to close school early.

“To err on the side of safety ... to get our students home and our employees home, we thought a two-hour-early dismissal was best,” he said.

On a normal Friday, some buses don’t finish their routes until 8 p.m.

Some nontraditional schools, such as early college programs, run later than traditional schools.

“It can be construed as being wrong,” Harris said, “but as long as we feel we’ve made a decision based on what’s safe for everyone, then we’re comfortable.”

Joe Roiz, who has two children at Grimsley High, said his kids are old enough that it’s not a big deal for them to beat him home.

But he remembers just a few years ago when he or his ex-wife would have to leave work early or come in late so the kids weren’t alone. It could be a headache, he said, but he understands the school district’s position.

“You’re not going to make everybody happy,” he said. “There’s a lot more that goes into it than you, as a parent, probably know.”

Of course, Roiz said, the sooner you know, the better.

Although Harris fielded plenty of calls Friday from local reporters, he hadn’t heard from any parents as of late afternoon.

But he did hear from several fellow employees who thanked him for making a hard decision.

Contact J. Brian Ewing at 373-7351 or brian.ewing@news-record.com