Winter Weather Strands More Than 100 Norman North Students

The winter weather crippling much of the United States has left more than 100 students of the Norman North High School march band stranded in Hawaii.

The kids and chaperones are working to make their way back to Oklahoma. The high school students were representing the USS Oklahoma during the annual Pearl Harbor Day Parade in Honolulu over the weekend. Some students are set to return to Norman Monday afternoon, while most are still waiting to start their 3,600 mile journey.

The group has been in Hawaii since Thursday, taking in the sites, sun and learning about that infamous day in 1941. All 200 children and chaperones were scheduled to return to Oklahoma Sunday evening. Band chaperone Carol Abbott says one of the group's flights was delayed and another was canceled.

Now, instead of going through DFW, a majority of the kids will arrive in OKC by way of LAX.

"[The kids] packed four days of clothes … and they brought money for just those meals," said Abbott. "We had to pay for extra hotel rooms. We had kids sleeping on floors in the hotel last night because we could only get so many rooms."

According to Norman Public Schools, there is some confusion over the details behind the children's situation.

Spokesperson Shelly Hickman tells News 9 that the district has covered the cost of the band to stay in Honolulu as well as the LAX Marriott for Monday evening. The district says it has met every request that its band directors have made because of the impact of the flight delays.

Everyone in the group is expected to be back in Oklahoma by Tuesday night with a flight landing at Will Rogers World Airport around 10:30 p.m.

Nearly 30 children will have an 18-hour layover in Los Angeles.