Mayan Doomsday Rumors Prompt Michigan Officials To Close 33 Schools Early

More than 30 Michigan schools have closed two days early for the holidays because of a string of 'rumors' running rampant throughout the neighborhoods that a) there might be violence against students; and b) the Mayan calendar predicts apocalypse on Friday morning.

Detroit's NBC affiliate WDIV reported that Lapeer Community Schools superintendent Matt Wandrie said that the doomsday 'rumors' are adding to fears about gun violence resulting from last week's massacre in Newtown, Conn.

'Given the recent events in Connecticut, there have been numerous rumors circulating in our district, and in neighboring districts, about potential threats of violence against students. Additionally, rumors connected to the Mayan calendar predicted end of the world on Friday have also surfaced,' Wandrie reportedly explained the decision on his website.

Those rumors, reports WDIV, have become a 'big distraction,' prompting five districts (covering 33 schools) in Lapeer County to cancel all school activity for the last two weekdays before holiday break. Classes will resume in January 7, 2013.

'Although we in the county are reluctant to cancel school because the rumors are unsubstantiated, we feel it is the most appropriate decision given the gravity of recent events and our present circumstances,' Wandrie wrote.

Watch below, via WDIV:

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