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All Charlotte County schools will be closed on Tuesday. School officials confirmed that Monday afternoon, saying the district would be erring on the side of caution in light of the snow and ice in the area. 

“Due to ice and snow covered roads in the northern part of the county and temperatures expected to be below freezing overnight, Charlotte County Public Schools will be closed Tuesday, Jan. 16th, for students and staff,” district staff said in a statement. 

They added that 12-month employees should either report by 10 a.m. or use leave. 

The news follows similar announcements all around the region. In Prince Edward, Cumberland, Lunenburg and Buckingham counties, schools are all closed on Tuesday. 

Now yes, the snow has stopped falling across the region and the main roads have been treated. But the concern for district officials, and Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), is that things will change overnight. 

Colder temperatures are already heading into the region. Tuesday, for example, the low is expected to be 19 degrees. As a result, you’ll have ice forming on roads, with a mix of freezing rain and more ice expected overnight tonight. Also, wind is supposed to pick up again in the early morning hours, which would have made it problematic for students, some of which have to wait outside for bus pickup. 

Throughout the rest of the week, nighttime temperatures will remain in the teens, bottoming out Sunday as it hits 11 degrees. Some businesses and government operations hope that the ice will melt by 9 a.m. or 10 a.m., enough to make things business as usual. But school officials, concerned about the condition of secondary roads and how many students would be able to actually make it in to class, decided to shut down for at least one more day. The district of course shut down all schools Monday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.