Winter climate people - Updated with a twist

[Carrie12345]

What does it take for your local schools to close?

I’m curious because I was one of those parents who always wished for ds’s school to close. I even kept him home sometimes because we’re in a higher elevation than much of the district and I deemed it too unsafe, myself.  But now, 12-14 years later, it seems like our area schools close all the time.

We got around 2” of snow last night. No ice.  The district called a 3 hour delay, then updated to close.  We’re in an actual ski destination area, so winter weather isn’t exactly unusual for us the way it is in some places. I’m still kind of a wuss when it comes to going out in snow, but even I’d have no qualms about heading out right now.  It feels like they’re making more and more weird calls like this these days. And I’m not even trying to compare it to when I was in school, only when my oldest kid was!

Update: SO, school is closed again today. Because there was no weather, the text had to include the admission that there’s a big bus driver call-out.  They didn’t say that yesterday.
Our school board is trying to outsource bussing service, and it’s been a mess.  The board voted against an independent fact finder’s report (that says there’s no overall benefit) and I guess everything has gone to pot. 

Edited December 12, 2019 by Carrie12345

[maize]

Do you maybe have teachers coming in from further out? I know the teachers around here often have a longer commute than the kids. 

I think our society in general has become more cautious.

[catz]

I think society has become more cautious in part because society has become more litigious.  I think in terms of making a decisions parents don't like, schools are much more likely now to get loud complaints.  So yes, schools are more likely to close now than before.  And we are in Minnesota.  

Our urban schools REALLY do not like closing.  There will be kids unsupervised and not eating meals upon school closure.  But the wealthier distract families complain complain complain if they don't.  I see why it's hard to balance in some districts.  

[happi duck]

When I taught, it was two things that would cause a snow day: if the buses couldn't make it or if the cold made waiting at the bus stop dangerous.

From what I can tell that's what's still the case.

I've never noticed a closure for 2" alone. 

[Katy]

When I was a kid a high school student got in a wreck and was killed on a foggy day.  After that if there was a fog advisory school was delayed, and if it lasted after 9 school was cancelled.  I'm guessing something happened like that in your area and the school responded by cancelling school on days like today. 

[MEmama]

Our school closes for big snows and for ice (or prediction for either, which they occasionally get sometimes wrong). They also close for high winds and if too much of the student population is out of power. They don’t close for temperature AFAIK. Ours is a town school and doesn’t close as often as regional schools where students have to travel farther, and who might have more variable weather conditions.

We’ve only been in the school system here for three years so I don’t know if policies have changed.

When we lived in eastern Canada, we didn’t have any snow days and IIRC indoor recess happened only if it was -19C or below. Possibly a majority of the kids in the school lived in poverty and with food insecurity so I understand why it was preferable to have them in a warm school instead of at home. 

 

[Arctic Bunny]

Our schools never close. They can’t risk a child being locked out of the school. The busses may not run, but the school will be open, and attendance will be taken!

Edited December 11, 2019 by arctic_bunny

[wintermom]

Our schools don't close due to poor weather, though if there are icy driving conditions and the school buses are cancelled, very few students attend classes. Teachers are there, but no new material is allowed to be taught. My dc have discovered that they will likely spend the day doing almost nothing at school, so they stay at home now.

ETA: The reason for these procedures is mainly because several years ago a local school bus crashed due to ice and killed several students onboard. I do not know what other school boards in our province have for their school closures/bus cancellations. 

Edited December 11, 2019 by wintermom

[gardenmom5]

I'm not in snow country - but they will cancel when we have nothing (we do have a "technically a mt." in our district) teachers living further out, people moving from warmer climes and kids not prepared for snow - not even dressed for cold temps/snow.

about ten years ago, they cancelled school based on a forecast for a huge snowstorm. . . . . . . didn't snow.  that night, it started. When the (four back-to-back) storms were over - we had 24" of snow at our house - with a 1/2" layer of ice somewhere in the middle.      since it was right before Christmas - they ended up cancelling those last three days before Christmas break.   

[SounderChick]

Here they cancel over 2 inches of snow but that's a big snow here.  When we lived in Wisconsin I only remember schools closing once.  It was for extreme cold  -20? they didn't want to have kids possibly out at bus stops or walking underdressed.

 

[wintermom]

1 minute ago, rebcoola said:

Here they cancel over 2 inches of snow but that's a big snow here.  When we lived in Wisconsin I only remember schools closing once.  It was for extreme cold  -20? they didn't want to have kids possibly out at bus stops or walking underdressed.

 

That's interesting. When growing up on the Canadian prairies (straight north of Wisconsin), I don't recall schools closing. We just had indoor recess. Otherwise we'd miss way too many school days. 😉

[wathe]

In my part of Ontario, schools don't close unless there is a major storm.   School buses, on the other hand, get cancelled more often for things like snow squalls and icy roads.  Maybe 5-10 bus cancellations a year?

[Pen]

Winter Heat/electric outage at the schools.  Roads too snowy/icy /flooded for busses to get to quite a few kids, Or if teachers have trouble getting to the schools  .  Or if concerned that weather will get worse and people will get stranded at school overnight. 

[SounderChick]

2 hours ago, wintermom said:

That's interesting. When growing up on the Canadian prairies (straight north of Wisconsin), I don't recall schools closing. We just had indoor recess. Otherwise we'd miss way too many school days. 😉

It was southern Wisconsin and it was once. It was probably much colder than that or maybe the wind chill was what made it so bad. 

[GoodGrief]

Anchorage area schools used to rarely close for winter weather, but it does seem like they close several times a school year now. Closed this past Monday for ice.

[City Mouse]

We get lots of 2-hr delays, and the occasional closing early day, but full school-canceled snow days are rare. 

[Carrie12345]

46 minutes ago, City Mouse said:

We get lots of 2-hr delays, and the occasional closing early day, but full school-canceled snow days are rare. 

Our district has moved to 3 hour delays, which has been interesting. They’ve probably avoided even more cancelations by doing that. Except for today, lol.

[MEmama]

We are getting more delays here too, instead of full on cancellations. The delays are much less disruptive.

A couple years ago there were so many snow days school went through the last week of June (our schools normally run through the middle of the month). It really messed with summer jobs and camp programs. Some swim programs were even cancelled as a result. There are only a handful of weeks of swim instruction here anyway, so it was a big loss for both the young swimmers and the student instructors.

[bolt.]

Public schools here (Calgary, Canada) have a no-closure policy. This is because they are committed to being open as somewhere safe, warm, and supervised each day. Many parents depend on that. It would be less safe for kids and teens to have nowhere to go on freezing days.

They do cancel transportation when the roads are genuinely unreasonable to drive on except for emergencies. (Like 40cm of fresh snow, or a serious layer of re-frozen overnight ice.) When they cancel transportation, it makes school optional -- but the schools are still open. (Education may not happen, and not all of the teachers can make it, but warmth and supervision is available.)

They also encourage parents to opt for safety if they think it's unsafe to travel to school any day as an individual decision.

[AmandaVT]

The school I work at is pretty rural with a lot of winding, mountain-y dirt roads. The snow day protocol is the principal and superintendent start talking to the road crew dispatcher around 4am to see what the road conditions are like. If the roads can be sanded so the busses can safely drive their routes, school will be on as usual. If not, they delay or cancel. So far this year we had 1 snow day for 8+ inches falling during the overnight and morning commute times and for a super icy day. The other day was a tough one because it had been really cold, suddenly warmed up to the 40's and then rained like crazy. The back roads were sheets of ice but school was already in session, so they were trying to figure out if they could get the kids home safely. Thankfully, it all worked out. 

Indoor recess for rain or below 0 temps, but that's it.

[linders]

For perspective, I live in South Carolina...

"Look!! There's a snowflake!!!! OMG, quick, get to the store and stock up on supplies! Does anyone know where we put the hats/coats/mittens from the last storm? Do we have a snow shovel??? Wait, where did the flake go?"

Schools of course are already closed in anticipation of that flake.

P.S. And for those who say, "Hey, it's understandable, SC isn't prepared for snow." In the 10 years we have lived here, the schools have closed several times because of a dusting that melted within a couple hours. It's weird.

[Xahm]

I live in the Atlanta area, and we always closer for big ice storms, which tend to bring down lots of limbs and power lines, but recently schools have lived in fear of a storm popping up mid day and having kids caught on buses our at school. A couple of years ago, during my daughter's one semester in public school (Kindergarten), they decided mid day to close schools abruptly. Like, we got sent a text telling us schools were closing on twenty minutes. We were able to get our kids, but it was a real mess. I know one mom with a daughter the same age as mine who is homeschooling in large part because the school lost her child that day. She got misplaced in the shuffle to separate bus riders from car riders, and when her mom showed up it took them half an hour to find her. 

[Carrie12345]

1 minute ago, xahm said:

I live in the Atlanta area, and we always closer for big ice storms, which tend to bring down lots of limbs and power lines, but recently schools have lived in fear of a storm popping up mid day and having kids caught on buses our at school. A couple of years ago, during my daughter's one semester in public school (Kindergarten), they decided mid day to close schools abruptly. Like, we got sent a text telling us schools were closing on twenty minutes. We were able to get our kids, but it was a real mess. I know one mom with a daughter the same age as mine who is homeschooling in large part because the school lost her child that day. She got misplaced in the shuffle to separate bus riders from car riders, and when her mom showed up it took them half an hour to find her. 

Yikes!

My family’s in the Atlanta area, and one of my sisters (grown, not student) was stranded in one of the storms in the last few years. I’ve been down there during 2 storms, and it’s no joke that they don’t have the infrastructure to deal with big weather!

[73349]

17 hours ago, xahm said:

I live in the Atlanta area, and we always closer for big ice storms, which tend to bring down lots of limbs and power lines, but recently schools have lived in fear of a storm popping up mid day and having kids caught on buses our at school. A couple of years ago, during my daughter's one semester in public school (Kindergarten), they decided mid day to close schools abruptly. Like, we got sent a text telling us schools were closing on twenty minutes. We were able to get our kids, but it was a real mess. I know one mom with a daughter the same age as mine who is homeschooling in large part because the school lost her child that day. She got misplaced in the shuffle to separate bus riders from car riders, and when her mom showed up it took them half an hour to find her. 

We had an event like that here in central NC around 2004-2005, I think. The roads were gridlock on  ice, with some people stuck at schools or in cars overnight. So now they close preemptively if they're told it might start snowing in the middle of the day. Wake County has 160,000 students in 180 schools, and parents drive many to/from school, especially for those who don't attend their base schools.

There is no ability to plow the school parking lots, so even if roads are decent, the schools can't always open. And the geographic spread is huge, so if part of the county is affected, the whole district closes, even if half the schools would've been fine; otherwise, it'd be confusing, and some teachers wouldn't have care for their own kids.

This makes it tricky to have other community groups say they follow the school district re: delays/closings--if the weather is fine at my house, I don't necessarily think to check.

[caedmyn]

I think they rarely cancel here.  Sometimes they have a late start if the roads are bad. They have to keep going really, or there’d be a whole lot of days to make up.  We usually get a couple of weeks of -25 below weather each winter and schools still are open.  Possibly in the more rural areas they close for that kind of cold.

We lived in MI for one winter and it seemed like they were always closing or late starting for snow.  I thought it was weird.

[HS Mom in NC]

Lived just outside PHX for 45 years.  They shut down the schools a grand total of 1 time for a day or two due to flooding.  The ground there doesn't absorb water like it does other places and there was enough rain to flood the roads so badly they had close the schools.

[MEmama]

56 minutes ago, Homeschool Mom in AZ said:

Lived just outside PHX for 45 years.  They shut down the schools a grand total of 1 time for a day or two due to flooding.  The ground there doesn't absorb water like it does other places and there was enough rain to flood the roads so badly they had close the schools.

I remember my junior high closing for flooding at least one during a huge storm.

It was in Northern California; all the lockers were in open hallways (outside, covered but otherwise open to the elements) and I remember how soaked we’d get when it was rainy and windy. 35 years later the school closes for fires. 😞 

[Katy]

What a funny update!  I hope someone on the board comes to their senses soon.

[SquirrellyMama]

We get more 2 hour delays than closures.

Last year we did have a lot of snow and cold closures. The governor actually forgave some snow days so the kids didnt have to go into June for school.

Kelly

[Miss Tick]

31 minutes ago, SquirrellyMama said:

We get more 2 hour delays than closures.

My understanding is that this is financial. They still get paid like a regular day for delays, but there is a significant cut in funding for cancellations.

To that end our district has "e-learning days". I can only imagine how hard it would be to suddenly have to turn my day's lesson plan into something that could happen electronically. I'm not sure what guidelines they have for that, but I'm glad that isn't an issue at home!

[SquirrellyMama]

2 minutes ago, SusanC said:

My understanding is that this is financial. They still get paid like a regular day for delays, but there is a significant cut in funding for cancellations.

To that end our district has "e-learning days". I can only imagine how hard it would be to suddenly have to turn my day's lesson plan into something that could happen electronically. I'm not sure what guidelines they have for that, but I'm glad that isn't an issue at home!

I've heard about e-learning days. I think that would be useful. Our district gives every kid a Chromebook so it would definitely be possible. 

[vonfirmath]

Just now, SquirrellyMama said:

I've heard about e-learning days. I think that would be useful. Our district gives every kid a Chromebook so it would definitely be possible. 

 

Don't you also need Internet access?

[Acorn]

My children will have e-learning days for weather and planned teacher inservice/planning days. As an incoming family, we agreed to provide internet access. I think it is possible that there might be support for families who are unable to immediately agree to provide internet but unsure. We have a fabulous library district that has about 20 branches in our county that offers wifi. The online e-learning assignments do not reflect continuity of the daily curriculum. They usually are watch video or read article/poem and write reflection. Typically, one school day can be done in 2-3 hours of online work, but that won’t surprise anybody here.