While several school districts across the Rio Grande Valley were closed on Tuesday due to the weather, Harlingen CISD kept their doors open.

Harlingen CISD Superintendent Dr. J.A. Gonzalez said the district stayed open as a place to offer meals – and to provide an important life lessons to students.

“We don't ever want to disrupt the learning environment, so we try to keep pushing at all costs,” Gonzalez said. “And on top of that, we want our kids to be gritty and resilient, and I think there are lessons in waking up and getting to school in the cold."

RELATED: Delays in effect for Valley school districts due to cold front

Keeping the district open was also a way to not keep parents from going to work, Gonzalez added.

“We have parents that are working — a lot of businesses are up and running — so if we didn't have to disrupt our families across the community, we didn't want to,” Gonzalez said. “And I think that the two-hour delay worked for us."

The district said more than 10% of students were absent on Tuesday. 

Many districts in the Valley — including Harlingen CISD — will resume classes on Wednesday with a delayed start time.

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