Richland 1 schools to remain closed Monday

Richland 1 schools will remain closed on Monday, officials announced Saturday morning.

“Many roads and bridges in urban, suburban and rural areas of the district have been washed out or they are impassable,” Superintendent Craig Witherspoon said in a statement. “Residents in some parts of the district still cannot get out of their own neighborhoods. Until we are confident that roads are safe for bus travel, we will not put our buses on the roads.”

Some schools in the district still are without water service or have low or intermittent water pressure, Witherspoon said.

“It is rare that we have to cancel school for such an extended period of time, and we want to return to normal operations as soon as possible, but only when it is safe and prudent to do so,” Witherspoon said. “Right now, we are assessing conditions and making decisions on a day-to-day basis.”

Eleven-month and 12-month employees who are able to get to work safely are to report to work Monday from 9 am. to 4 p.m. Schools and offices will not be open to the public.

Richland 1 is the only Midlands school district to remain closed. Richland 2 officials announced Friday that schools would open on a two-hour delay next week. All Lexington county schools have reopened.

Free lunches will be served again to children from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at these Richland 1 schools:

Burnside Elementary School, 7300 Patterson Road

Carver-Lyon Elementary School, 2100 Waverly St.

Hyatt Park Elementary School, 4200 Main St.

H.B. Rhame Elementary School, 1300 Arrowwood Road

South Kilbourne Elementary School, 1400 South Kilbourne Road

John P. Thomas Elementary School, 6001 Weston Ave.

Lower Richland High School, 2615 Lower Richland Blvd., Hopkins

This story was originally published October 10, 2015 at 10:43 AM with the headline "Richland 1 schools to remain closed Monday."