Carroll County will be near the totality zone for the total eclipse on April 8. As a result, students will be dismissed from school early. The Carroll County Board of Education approved the early release at its meeting tonight.
Principals at all of the schools were polled and the majority preferred an early release to a complete day off school. Some schools have eclipse activities planned and did not want their students to miss those experiences.
Carroll County will be within the totality of the eclipse at 2:58 p.m. according to Mark Willhoite, director of pupil personnel/chief operations officer. This would mean students would be on school buses and be at risk of damaging their eyes because they would be tempted to look out the windows when the moon eclipses the sun.
According to NASA, looking at the sun can cause immediate damage to a person’s eyes. The eclipse must be viewed through eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer. This article from NASA explains safety details for properly viewing the eclipse. https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/safety/
“We can avoid the totality of the eclipse and our kids can get home safe,” Willhoite said. He noted that Carrollton is at 99.38% totality in the eclipse zone so it will be dark outside.
This is a link to specific details about the eclipse in Carrollton.
https://eclipse2024.org/eclipse-cities/city/17138.html?searchqry=Carrollton+Kentucky%2C+USA