MC Closed at Noon Jan. 29
Salt on the steps outside the Campus Center building.
January 29, 2019
Montgomery College will close today at 12:00 p.m. The announcement was made at around 9:30 this morning, two and a half hours prior to the closure. All evening and afternoon classes are cancelled.
There will be a final MC shuttle run at 12:00 p.m.
Marcus Rosano, MC’s Public Relations director, said that decision makers including facilities and administrators had a meeting at 9:00 a.m. to discuss the weather forecast and the closure.
Rosano said that many things go into the decision-making process and that the decision could not have been made earlier because they needed to see the latest weather forecast information.
In college-wide communications sent at the beginning of December, Shawn Harrison, the Director of Public Safety and Emergency Management wrote, “Decisions to close the College or delay opening are made by the senior vice president for administrative and fiscal services. These decisions are made in consultation with key central services administrators and campus facilities directors.”
Rosano said that the college does the best it can to provide information about closures in a timely manner and they understand that people coming to MC travel from many areas. He said that the decisions are made as early as possible when pertinent information is available.
Two and a half hours is ample time, Rosano said, for people to receive information about the closure and make plans to get home later today.
On Nov. 15 last semester, the college also closed due to weather conditions. Initially, the decision was for a delayed opening at 10:00 a.m. However, merely a half hour before the originally planned delayed opening, MC revised their decision and announced that the college would be completely closed that day.
This is the third day this winter that the school has closed for wintry conditions. Over the winter session, MC was also closed on Jan. 13 and 14 due to snow and unsafe travel conditions.
Montgomery County Public Schools are also “dismiss[ing] students two and one-half hours earlier than the regular closing time” today, and cancelling all after-school activities and sports. For most MCPS high schools, this means school will also end at 12:00 p.m. today.
Decisions made by schools in the area to close early enable students to get a head start on traveling home safely before the storm hits.
According to reports made by The Washington Post, the weather is expected to begin with rain this afternoon and then turn to snow. The buildup is anticipated to be between 1 and 3 inches, but freezing temperatures overnight will make roads icy and increase travel hazards.
If you have not already done so, the college encourages you to sign up your phone number and email address for MC Alert, the system through which such cancellations, delayed openings, and other emergency notifications are communicated. Visit this page to sign up today.
