Classes will be canceled Wednesday for Lawrence public schools because of the freezing rain and snow, school district officials announced Tuesday night.

“The ice on the roads is certainly a concern,” Julie Boyle, the district’s director of communications said. “But we are especially concerned with the ice on the sidewalks and the parking lots in each of our schools. And we want to make sure we don’t risk the safety of students and of staff to get to the buildings. Hopefully it will warm up tomorrow.”

Bishop Seabury Academy in Lawrence and Tonganoxie and Perry-Lecompton school officials also decided Tuesday night to call off school for Wednesday. Community Children’s Center Head Start also canceled their programs for Wednesday.

Slick roadways from freezing rain and drizzle have led to cancellations of many events scheduled for Tuesday night, including Kansas University’s evening classes and a Lawrence school board candidate forum. Freezing drizzle, freezing rain, sleet and snow are all expected for the Lawrence area through the evening.

KU officials announced that classes that start after 5 p.m. Tuesday would be canceled. A decision whether to cancel classes Wednesday will be made by 6 a.m. Wednesday.

All Lawrence school district events have been canceled for Tuesday night.

Other cancellations Tuesday night included:

• Lawrence school board candidates forum at Central Junior High. It is expected to be rescheduled.
• Lawrence public schools budget committee meeting at the district’s administration center. It is expected to be rescheduled.

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• All Lawrence Parks and Recreations classes, sports and activities. This includes all recreation and instructional classes, special population classes, aquatic fitness classes and swim lessons, youth sports leagues and adult sport leagues.
• All Lawrence recreation centers, including Holcom Park Recreation Center, 2700 W. 27th St., Community Building, 115 W. 11th St. and East Lawrence Recreation Center, 1245 E. 15th St., will close at 7 p.m. The Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center will be open its regular schedule Tuesday evening.
• Eudora and Tonganoxie high school girls sub-state basketball games.
• Trinity Lutheran Church announced it is cancelling its 10 a.m. Ash Wednesday service. The 7 p.m. service is still scheduled.

School officials at three school districts that sent students home early — Perry-Lecompton, McLouth and Oskaloosa — have made no decision yet whether to cancel classes for Wednesday.

Matt Sayers, 6News meteorologist, said the latest weather system is bringing a mixed bag of precipitation and cold weather to the Lawrence area and led the National Weather Service to issue a winter weather advisory for the area.

Sayers said some snow would fall in the evening and overnight, “but accumulations will be an inch or less.”

Total precipitation will be about a tenth of an inch, he said.

“This is something that just moves in pretty quickly and is out of here pretty quickly,” he said. “The cool air is going to stick around. We might actually see a flurry and just a few flakes falling tomorrow.”

But there won’t be any additional accumulation, he said.

The temperature is expected to drop quickly to a low of 15 overnight. Wind chill readings of zero to 10 above are expected. The temperature will reach a high of 27 by Wednesday afternoon.

“Thursday and Friday, we’ll be back in the 50s,” Sayers said. Thursday’s high will be 52, with the low dropping overnight to 30. Friday’s high will be 56.

The temperature will be 29 Saturday morning, with the high reaching 46 Saturday afternoon. Sunday’s early morning low will be 21, with the high reaching 32.