Bibb County Schools will be closed Thursday along with several other school districts in Middle Georgia as the state and the South deals with an unusual winter storm.

Most kids in Macon played in the snow Wednesday. But just north in the Atlanta metro area, many students spent the morning stranded in school buildings or school buses. They had been there since Tuesday, when the snow seemingly caught school officials off guard. By the time officials issued early dismissal, it was too late for all of the students to get home safely.

Now, Many Atlantans are asking why school wasn't cancelled ahead of the storm.

In Bibb County, it was.

So, what can our friends to the north learn from Bibb?

David Gowan is Executive Director of Risk Management of Safety for Bibb County Schools. He says they work closely with the National Weather Service in determining when to close.

"There were times in the past where the weather briefings were telling us that it was going to do one thing and then it changed, but you can only make a decision based on the best information you have at the time."

Gowan says the forecast predicted a 100 percent chance of snow and ice in Macon and they acted early to prevent what happened in Atlanta.

Tags: Bibb County Schools, bad weather, Leah Fleming