Baltimore City and Baltimore County school officials announced several school closures Tuesday over heating issues.
Find area school closings and delays here.
The announcements come after Baltimore City health commissioner Leana Wen issued the first Code Blue alert of the winter season. The Code Blue alerts are issued when temperatures, including the wind chill, fall to 13 degrees or below.
At Baltimore City College, the cold reached the classroom making it tough to teach.
"It is. It's cold," said one woman who identified herself as a teacher, but refused to give her name.
And perhaps just as difficult to learn.
"Like in math class, we had to take a test. So we couldn't really focus, because it was so cold," Angel Tillman, a sophomore, said.
Ultimately, after a few hours of bitter chill, the school system shut down this school, along with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary on Greenspring Avenue and National Academy Foundation on North Caroline Street, stemming the tide of complaints from freezing teachers, students and administrators alike.
"It's warmer outside than it is inside. It was cold in there," Ajanay Nicholson, a sophomore, said.
See also: What We're Tracking: Snow in the Coming Days
Meanwhile, those at some schools like Commodore John Rogers in East Baltimore had to ride out the chilly temperatures within.
With nearly two hundred schools and programs citywide, some dating back more than a century, modern-day heating isn't always a given.
In fact, Baltimore County also had to close down Deep Creek Middle School in Essex with a similar problem.
"Cold in the hallways... cold in most of the classrooms...freezing though," said the unidentified teacher as she left City College.
Looking ahead to Wednesday, administrators say no decision had been mad, as of 5 p.m. to close any of those same schools.
The following Baltimore City schools were impacted:
- Baltimore City College closing at 12:15 p.m. over lack of heat
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Elementary/Middle School closing at 11:15 a.m. over lack of heat
- National Academy Foundation School closing at 12:30 p.m. over lack of heat
The following Baltimore County public school was impacted:
- Deep Creek Middle School located on S. Marlyn Avenue in Essex will close at 11 a.m. due to a lack of heat in the building. All after school and evening activities are also canceled, according to a statement released by the school system.
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