“This is a great event for our city and our community,” Dr. Morrison said. “Our goal is to transport students safely to and from school and provide quality instruction while they are in school.”

Traffic volume and patterns will change during the convention as streets are closed or restricted. CMS has made adjustments that will allow teaching and learning to continue all week – which is also the second week of school – while helping parents and students get to school on time and without undue difficulty.

 The changes include:

• Metro School will have an early dismissal on Thursday, Sept. 6, with students leaving at noon.
• Irwin Academic Center students will be dismissed at 12:45 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 6. 
• First Ward Creative Arts Academy will have three days of early dismissal: Tuesday, Sept. 4, Wednesday, Sept. 5 and Thursday, Sept. 6, students will dismiss at 12:45 p.m. 

Irwin, Metro and First Ward schools will return to their normal schedules on Friday, Sept. 7.

The closing of Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) for the week has affected Cato Middle College, which follows the CPCC calendar and is held on the campus. Cato Middle College High School will be closed for the week. No makeup days are required because Cato classes began Aug. 3.

About 400 CMS students live in the Interstate 277 loop, the area that will be most directly affected by the convention. CMS has adjusted about 325 bus routes for the first two weeks of school to ensure smooth transport for students through convention traffic. District officials said they wanted to reduce disruption to families. So the district will use the same routes for convention-affected schools and students for two weeks, rather than starting a route one week, changing it the next and then changing it back. Permanent bus routes for the students who live inside the loop will go into effect the week after the convention.

The district will continue to provide updates as additional decisions are made about the week of the convention.