HURRICANE EARL: Local schools, colleges closing early today

Students and staff members in the Craven, Pamlico and Jones school districts as well as Craven and Pamlico community colleges are going home early today in anticipation of Hurricane Earl’s brush by the N.C. coast.

Craven County Schools will release at 1 p.m. and Pamlico County Schools will have a staggered release schedule between 12:45 p.m. and 1 p.m. Jones County Schools are releasing students at 1 p.m.

Craven schools will operate on a three-hour delay on Friday, Superintendent Larry Moser said, to ensure that bus drivers, staff members and students are not driving in dangerous weather conditions.

Pamlico County Schools Superintendent James P. Coon also said the district will be operating on a three-hour delay Friday to give school officials time to assess the roads and other factors related to Earl.

Jones County Schools will be operating on a two-hour delay.

Craven Community College will close at 3 p.m. today because of the hurricane, and the afternoon’s special called meeting of the college’s Board of Trustees has also been canceled and rescheduled for 5:30 p.m. Monday.

Sandy Wall, Craven Community College’s public information officer, said the college will also be operating on a three-hour delay Friday.

“We’re anxious to see what happens and we hope this delay will give us a good start in the morning,” Wall said.

Pamlico Community College will close at 1 p.m. today, and will open as a shelter for the American Red Cross. The college is tentatively on a three-hour delay Friday.

Laura Oleniacz can be reached at 252-635-5675 or at loleniacz@freedomenc.com.