Kids in Tennessee school district get day off when TV station wrongly reports snow day

Students of one Tennessee school district have a Nashville TV station to thank for the snow day, school officials say.

The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System closed schools Friday, but it might not have been because of the weather. The school system said Friday that the decision to close school was influenced by a Nashville news station.

“A Nashville news station erroneously announced early Friday morning that CMCSS was closed,” school officials said on Facebook. “That decision had not been made nor announced by CMCSS.”

Many people in the area thought that was accurate, the school said, and weren’t planning to go to school. The school district decided to close school because of the confusion, not the weather.

“CMCSS was concerned there would be confusion and poor attendance,” CMCSS said. “Therefore, the decision to close schools was made and the communication plan was followed.”

Typically when the schools close after 10 p.m. and before 5 a.m., the news will be posted to the system’s social media and website first. Then local media is notified. School officials also normally call to notify families of closings before 9 p.m. or at 5 a.m. or later.

“Due to inclement weather conditions, all CMCSS schools will be closed today, Feb. 7. District offices will be open,” CMCSS shared early Friday. “Custodians, grounds crews and maintenance workers should report at their regular times.”