In case you were wondering how cold it needs to be to close schools here...

[LifeLovePassion]

The answer is not -15 with a wind-chill or "feels like" temperature of -30F. It is a day for lots of layers. 

 

Our district and most of the large metropolitan area are -35 wind-chill. 

[Faith-manor]

4 minutes ago, LifeLovePassion said:

The answer is not -15 with a wind-chill or "feels like" temperature of -30F. It is a day for lots of layers. 

 

Our district and most of the large metropolitan area are -35 wind-chill. 

That is too cold especially if children are waiting outside for the bus.

[wintermom]

Ours haven't closed either due to the cold, and we've had it at -20 to -30 for two weeks. The schools closed when we had a huge dump of snow last week. I'm sure they're having indoor recess.

[Tree Frog]

1 hour ago, wintermom said:

Ours haven't closed either due to the cold, and we've had it at -20 to -30 for two weeks. The schools closed when we had a huge dump of snow last week. I'm sure they're having indoor recess.

When we lived in Winnipeg, the students had indoor recess when it was -20 C, but school didn't close. I don't remember it ever closing, even with a blizzard; it was optional if parents couldn't get the students to school safely. I still remember the shock when we moved to NE that outdoor recess was optional at 0* C. 0* C is balmy compared to -20! And here, where we live now, we have indoor recess at 45* F, mostly because the school is Title 1 and many students don't have solid winter gear or come to school wearing a jacket.

I hope you're able to stay warm and the cold snap passes quickly, LifeLovePassion!

[history-fan]

Schools here are 2 hours delayed, no Morning programs/activities. Real temp now is -20 and feels like -40.

Around here buses stop at almost every driveway and do wait for kids running from their house, many parents have their kids in their vehicles running at the end of the driveways and it’s common to see winter shelters for kids at driveway end.

Edited January 26, 2022 by history-fan

[wintermom]

1 hour ago, Tree Frog said:

When we lived in Winnipeg, the students had indoor recess when it was -20 C, but school didn't close. I don't remember it ever closing, even with a blizzard; it was optional if parents couldn't get the students to school safely. I still remember the shock when we moved to NE that outdoor recess was optional at 0* C. 0* C is balmy compared to -20! And here, where we live now, we have indoor recess at 45* F, mostly because the school is Title 1 and many students don't have solid winter gear or come to school wearing a jacket.

I hope you're able to stay warm and the cold snap passes quickly, LifeLovePassion!

School busing in unsafe driving conditions has changed here (Eastern Ontario), probably due to insurance issues. We also had a local school bus fatality a number of years ago, and ever since that tragedy school bus closurses are much more frequent. I'm is total support of that! 

Edited January 26, 2022 by wintermom

[fraidycat]

Our schools have never closed due to weather. Buses stop running when it is gets to -35c, but schools are always still open and parents can drive kids.

A couple weeks ago our 'feels like' temperature was -48 with wind chills in the morning. Kids still went to school.

[mellifera33]

A million years ago, when I was in college in Minnesota, they closed campus twice. Once for a literal blizzard. I remember walking out of the bio building and not being able to see the next building. "Welp, either I get to the cafeteria, or I wander out to the prairie." All I could think of was that scene from the Little House books where the kids are trying to get home from school. The other time they closed was when there was a warning that exposed skin would freeze in less than a minute. 

[MEmama]

2 hours ago, Tree Frog said:

When we lived in Winnipeg, the students had indoor recess when it was -20 C, but school didn't close. I don't remember it ever closing, even with a blizzard; it was optional if parents couldn't get the students to school safely. I still remember the shock when we moved to NE that outdoor recess was optional at 0* C. 0* C is balmy compared to -20! And here, where we live now, we have indoor recess at 45* F, mostly because the school is Title 1 and many students don't have solid winter gear or come to school wearing a jacket.

I hope you're able to stay warm and the cold snap passes quickly, LifeLovePassion!

That’s how it was when we lived in eastern Canada. -19C was the cutoff for playing outdoors; the teachers used to hate those days because it meant they were required to mind the children (and not sneak drinks from the flasks in their desks 🙄). 
 

The school had so many kids who couldn’t afford the proper clothing. There was a clothing bank available and people would knit hats and mitts that kids could take, but it was heartbreaking. I worked as an aide in the elementary school and was heartbroken every time a kid would endure those temperatures without so much as proper boots or a decent coat. 😞 

[OH_Homeschooler]

Districts around us are all delayed due to the cold, but not us! I think the big difference is we do not have a dedicated bus service. 

[Ditto]

Okay, I am a huge cold weather fan,  but this is too cold even for me.   I feel awful that the schools are open.  I hope everyone is managing to stay relatively warm.

3 hours ago, history-fan said:

it’s common to see winter shelters for kids at driveway end.

What is this?   I am trying to picture it and am coming up blank.  What a nice thing to do for the kids though.

[MEmama]

1 minute ago, Ditto said:

Okay, I am a huge cold weather fan,  but this is too cold even for me.   I feel awful that the schools are open.  I hope everyone is managing to stay relatively warm.

What is this?   I am trying to picture it and am coming up blank.  What a nice thing to do for the kids though.

Like a small sheds with one open side (or a small bus shelter). Mailboxes are sometimes kept there too.

[Ditto]

1 minute ago, MEmama said:

Like a small sheds with one open side (or a small bus shelter). Mailboxes are sometimes kept there too.

Well that sounds adorable!   Why would mailboxes be kept in there?

 

[MEmama]

22 minutes ago, Ditto said:

Well that sounds adorable!   Why would mailboxes be kept in there?

 

To keep them from getting buried under snow. Also sometimes the shelters are at the end of a dirt lane with multiple houses; having the mailboxes all together at the side of the main road is better for the mail carrier who wouldn’t necessarily be able to make it up.

[rebcoola]

When we were in souther Wisconsin it was -35.   Here they stop letting kids go out for recess at 32. 

[history-fan]

I've never seen mail boxes in them, most people around here have metal swing-a-way mail posts, on county roads its required. The mailbox swings when the plow comes by vs busting off your post with the snow piles.

The shelters are different shapes and sized but common is an A-frame or 3 sided square and both have a bench inside to sit and a window to see bus coming. Some look like a wooden fish house and I have seen a couple that are really cute like cottages. If you google school bus stop cold shelter you can see images of them. 

Edited January 26, 2022 by history-fan

[Anne]

Schools don’t close here just for cold weather.  Recess moves indoors at -10 (-20 in Fairbanks).  Individual schools can take wind chill into account at their discretion.  Schools close for unusually icy roads or possibly an extreme snow event, something that would make bus driving hazardous.

Anne

[kbutton]

6 hours ago, history-fan said:

Schools here are 2 hours delayed, no Morning programs/activities. Real temp now is -20 and feels like -40.

Around here buses stop at almost every driveway and do wait for kids running from their house, many parents have their kids in their vehicles running at the end of the driveways and it’s common to see winter shelters for kids at driveway end.

Where I grew up, those shelters were also common, though kids inside the borough limits did not ride the bus. They walked or were dropped off.

We would close if it got down to about -20, but the reason given was usually to keep the electrical grid stable under the extra strain. 

[frogger]

Our schools tend to close when it warms above freezing since it turns the roads to ice rinks. I don't remember our schools closing because it was cold before. 

 

[Arcadia]

3 hours ago, Ditto said:

 

What is this?   I am trying to picture it and am coming up blank.  What a nice thing to do for the kids though.

A lovely news story https://turnto10.com/news/coronavirus/show-us-something-good/westerly-high-school-students-build-a-bus-stop-to-cover-local-boy-in-wheelchair

“

Ryder Kilam and his dad stand in the ADA-accessible bus stop shed constructed by the Construction Technology class at Westerly High School. (WJAR)”

 

[MEmama]

3 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

A lovely news story https://turnto10.com/news/coronavirus/show-us-something-good/westerly-high-school-students-build-a-bus-stop-to-cover-local-boy-in-wheelchair

“

Ryder Kilam and his dad stand in the ADA-accessible bus stop shed constructed by the Construction Technology class at Westerly High School. (WJAR)”

 

Awww that’s so sweet! ❤️ And check out the heat lamp on the ceiling! 

[wintermom]

6 minutes ago, MEmama said:

Awww that’s so sweet! ❤️ And check out the heat lamp on the ceiling! 

The dad needs to play up the story a little more by wearing a parka, big gloves and hat for the full effect. 😉 

[Ditto]

31 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

A lovely news story https://turnto10.com/news/coronavirus/show-us-something-good/westerly-high-school-students-build-a-bus-stop-to-cover-local-boy-in-wheelchair

“

Ryder Kilam and his dad stand in the ADA-accessible bus stop shed constructed by the Construction Technology class at Westerly High School. (WJAR)”

 

What a nice story!  Also, these are just as cute as I hoped they would be.

[73349]

That's cold. 🥶

Always a tough call, I'm sure, because the same kids who are under-clothed for the weather will likely be both cold and hungry at home.

[BlsdMama]

12 hours ago, LifeLovePassion said:

The answer is not -15 with a wind-chill or "feels like" temperature of -30F. It is a day for lots of layers. 

 

Our district and most of the large metropolitan area are -35 wind-chill. 

We had predicted -30 wind chill this AM and that finally persuaded schools here to close, but not DD’s University classes. I think it didn’t reach those extremes, as the wind was remarkably non existent. 

[BlsdMama]

2 hours ago, 73349 said:

That's cold. 🥶

Always a tough call, I'm sure, because the same kids who are under-clothed for the weather will likely be both cold and hungry at home.

It’s more than that - it’s the danger of travel in that weather, it’s buses and cares that won’t start. 

[staceyobu]

Laughs from central Texas where a mom once told me I needed to cancel our indoor co-op in a well heated building because 33 degrees Fahrenheit was too cold to walk from the parking lot to the building. When I refused to cancel, she said she'd just skip and keep her kids home. Where it was safe. There was no precipitation. It was a sunny day. 

[LifeLovePassion]

6 hours ago, staceyobu said:

Laughs from central Texas where a mom once told me I needed to cancel our indoor co-op in a well heated building because 33 degrees Fahrenheit was too cold to walk from the parking lot to the building. When I refused to cancel, she said she'd just skip and keep her kids home. Where it was safe. There was no precipitation. It was a sunny day. 

Shorts weather! 

[LifeLovePassion]

I hadn't even looked at the temp when I replied a while ago. It is +30f this morning. A 45 degree swing from yesterday!

[wintermom]

It's -31C with the windchill, and I see a group of kids outside waiting for the bus. At least I think that they are children. They are totally bundled up.

It's so nice to work from home and not have to wait for a bus! 

[Faith-manor]

12 hours ago, BlsdMama said:

It’s more than that - it’s the danger of travel in that weather, it’s buses and cares that won’t start. 

Agreed. And people need to remember that many an inexperienced high school driver is headed out for school with siblings. So out here on rural roads where response time for tow trucks, police, and road side assistance is 45 minutes to an hour sometimes more, it is very scary to have them out in these kinds of temps when the car/truck/bus isn't running. We have about 200 teen drivers at the local high school. Obviously they are not experienced drivers, and they often transport siblings to school. So it is kind of nail biter on days when the temps are in the "hypothermia/frostbite within five minutes" weather or when they superintendents don't want to deal with making up snow days and refuse to call of school during blizzards and ice storms even when the sheriff's office calls and says, "What the hell? Get off the roads!" (Yes, our sheriff talks like that. He is kind of bull in a china shop, as the saying goes, but actually a pretty good sheriff in practice.)

 

[frogger]

2 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

Agreed. And people need to remember that many an inexperienced high school driver is headed out for school with siblings. So out here on rural roads where response time for tow trucks, police, and road side assistance is 45 minutes to an hour sometimes more, it is very scary to have them out in these kinds of temps when the car/truck/bus isn't running. We have about 200 teen drivers at the local high school. Obviously they are not experienced drivers, and they often transport siblings to school. So it is kind of nail biter on days when the temps are in the "hypothermia/frostbite within five minutes" weather or when they superintendents don't want to deal with making up snow days and refuse to call of school during blizzards and ice storms even when the sheriff's office calls and says, "What the hell? Get off the roads!" (Yes, our sheriff talks like that. He is kind of bull in a china shop, as the saying goes, but actually a pretty good sheriff in practice.)

 

I would be irritated if school shut down everytime it got cold. What seems a smarter gauge is how unusual something is.

Kids must go to school if that is their main education. Even Interior Alaska should shut down for -60F (and yes machines really act differently < -55f) But since it regularly gets to -40F (or used to) it would be silly to shut down for that or kids would be missing way too many days. But certainly, I wouldn't expect that of warmer places. I'm not sure what that should be for each town. 

If parents choose to send kids off to school on long drives then hopefully they are requiring warm gear. Now if something is unusually cold and only happens every few years, then people can't be expected to prepare for that.

That might be the case with OP, I don't know. But you can't expect that for normal cold weather. So I don't think there is too warm or too cold, but I do think there is unusually warm or cold. 

Edited January 27, 2022 by frogger

[Faith-manor]

22 minutes ago, frogger said:

I would be irritated if school shut down everytime it got cold. What seems a smarter gauge is how unusual something is.

Kids must go to school if that is their main education. Even Interior Alaska should shut down for -60F (and yes machines really act differently < -55f) But since it regularly gets to -40F (or used to) it would be silly to shut down for that or kids would be missing way too many days. But certainly, I wouldn't expect that of warmer places. I'm not sure what that should be for each town. 

If parents choose to send kids off to school on long drives then hopefully they are requiring warm gear. Now if something is unusually cold and only happens every few years, then people can't be expected to prepare for that.

That might be the case with OP, I don't know. But you can't expect that for normal cold weather. So I don't think there is too warm or too cold, but I do think there is unusually warm or cold. 

I wasn't speaking about Alaska. I was speaking to extreme cold in my area. Please.do not make assumptions.

My region rarely, until accelerated climate change, had weeks of temps below zero coupled with windchills below zero in double digits. Rare. Very rare. When these schools were built, they were built with heating systems not rated or manufactured to handle such extremes. The elementary aged kids are currently, due to staffing issues, housed mostly in the gymnasium and taken out in small groups for limited instruction. The temperature yesterday in that gym when kids arrived at school? 48F. Please go set your thermostat at 48F and spend the day doing academic work so you cam have the experience. Some of the bus drivers reported that inside, the temps with the heaters running did not exceed 32 degrees so it isn't like these kids for toasty warmed up before entering the building.

Half of all Michigan schools currently have heating systems that are so old they cannot compete with this.

My area is also low income. Kids don't have Carhart or Llbean or REI coats. They have crap sold at the local Walmart. This store does not carry extreme weather clothing. The thrift stores and clothing pantries have been advertising a desperate need for coats, gloves, and hats rated below zero. The average kid has a pair of dollar store gloves, and a dollar store beanie hat. The kids raised on farms are better off because their parents do buy them very good outer wear so they can manage farm chores. 75% of the student body qualifies for free breakfast and lunch, backpacks and boxes of free food sent home on the weekend. So no, they don't have outer wear that manages to compete with going on three weeks of this.

When I was a kid, this kind of cold was unheard of here. Now, with climate change, I think it is going to be common. But that means the infrastructure which includes new insulation and heating systems for an awful lot of schools has to be upgraded. Our right wing nutter legislature who cares not one iota for kids isn't going to bite on that. So if the local community cannot bear the costs off some rather extreme millage taxes to make payments on loans for it, it isn't happening.

I am sure that for Alaskans, it sounds like mainlanders are just being whiney wimps. But you apparently are not dealing with an infrastructure that has its collective head in the sand for two decades about how much more extreme our weather was going to get and has done nothing about it. Maybe you live in an area with very few people who are low income or in poverty.

It isn't everywhere in Michigan to be certain. Many of the schools in the U.P. were apparently built much more soundly, and investments in heating were made that took into account big and prolonged weather extremes. When I have been in Marquette, thrifts stores have had far higher quality, used cold weather gear than here. They seem to have more "common sense" about extreme weather conditions than my region. Most of what is available to lower income families here is exceptionally low quality.

[frogger]

1 hour ago, Faith-manor said:

I wasn't speaking about Alaska. I was speaking to extreme cold in my area. Please.do not make assumptions.

My region rarely, until accelerated climate change, had weeks of temps below zero coupled with windchills below zero in double digits. Rare. Very rare. When these schools were built, they were built with heating systems not rated or manufactured to handle such extremes. The elementary aged kids are currently, due to staffing issues, housed mostly in the gymnasium and taken out in small groups for limited instruction. The temperature yesterday in that gym when kids arrived at school? 48F. Please go set your thermostat at 48F and spend the day doing academic work so you cam have the experience. Some of the bus drivers reported that inside, the temps with the heaters running did not exceed 32 degrees so it isn't like these kids for toasty warmed up before entering the building.

Half of all Michigan schools currently have heating systems that are so old they cannot compete with this.

My area is also low income. Kids don't have Carhart or Llbean or REI coats. They have crap sold at the local Walmart. This store does not carry extreme weather clothing. The thrift stores and clothing pantries have been advertising a desperate need for coats, gloves, and hats rated below zero. The average kid has a pair of dollar store gloves, and a dollar store beanie hat. The kids raised on farms are better off because their parents do buy them very good outer wear so they can manage farm chores. 75% of the student body qualifies for free breakfast and lunch, backpacks and boxes of free food sent home on the weekend. So no, they don't have outer wear that manages to compete with going on three weeks of this.

When I was a kid, this kind of cold was unheard of here. Now, with climate change, I think it is going to be common. But that means the infrastructure which includes new insulation and heating systems for an awful lot of schools has to be upgraded. Our right wing nutter legislature who cares not one iota for kids isn't going to bite on that. So if the local community cannot bear the costs off some rather extreme millage taxes to make payments on loans for it, it isn't happening.

I am sure that for Alaskans, it sounds like mainlanders are just being whiney wimps. But you apparently are not dealing with an infrastructure that has its collective head in the sand for two decades about how much more extreme our weather was going to get and has done nothing about it. Maybe you live in an area with very few people who are low income or in poverty.

It isn't everywhere in Michigan to be certain. Many of the schools in the U.P. were apparently built much more soundly, and investments in heating were made that took into account big and prolonged weather extremes. When I have been in Marquette, thrifts stores have had far higher quality, used cold weather gear than here. They seem to have more "common sense" about extreme weather conditions than my region. Most of what is available to lower income families here is exceptionally low quality.

Thus the word unusual for the area. 😁

I was not making assumptions about your area. If it is unusual for the area then it is appropriate. In fact, I specifically stated I had no idea what was normal for the OP.

 

Whatever is unusual for an area should be the cut off.  That would be dramatic for the area and I specifically stated that in fact I mentioned how it would be appropriate for southern states to shut down for much milder. It has nothing to do with absolute temperature but relative. That was kind of my the whole point. 

I did not intend to make it sound like your area was being wimpy. I would hope your school district would take it into account but my first sentence probably set the tone in your mind. That could have been worded differently. Sorry about that. 

I agree, climate change is such a challenge. Everything is changing so dramatically. 

Edited January 27, 2022 by frogger

[Terabith]

16 hours ago, staceyobu said:

Laughs from central Texas where a mom once told me I needed to cancel our indoor co-op in a well heated building because 33 degrees Fahrenheit was too cold to walk from the parking lot to the building. When I refused to cancel, she said she'd just skip and keep her kids home. Where it was safe. There was no precipitation. It was a sunny day. 

My kids were born in San Antonio.  We had moved there from Denver.  My oldest kid was given a snowsuit as a newborn.  Also, my kid had sensory issues and LOVED the cold.  Wanted their baths entirely with cold water, no hot mixed in.  Loved cold weather.  So it would be in the low 60's and everyone around us would be bundled up in parkas, and I'd have my infant in a long sleeved onesie and my toddler in knit pants, a tshirt, and I'd be carrying their light jacket.  The poor Mexican grandmothers thought I was the worst parent ever.  

[AmandaVT]

-26F not including windchill was not cold enough this morning! Lots of layers. Also busses have to keep windows open. I'm surprised none of the kids were popsicles. 

[Tree Frog]

I posted this in the Jokes and Memes, but it also seems to fit here. 😂

[staceyobu]

On 1/27/2022 at 2:45 PM, Terabith said:

My kids were born in San Antonio.  We had moved there from Denver.  My oldest kid was given a snowsuit as a newborn.  Also, my kid had sensory issues and LOVED the cold.  Wanted their baths entirely with cold water, no hot mixed in.  Loved cold weather.  So it would be in the low 60's and everyone around us would be bundled up in parkas, and I'd have my infant in a long sleeved onesie and my toddler in knit pants, a tshirt, and I'd be carrying their light jacket.  The poor Mexican grandmothers thought I was the worst parent ever.  

When we first moved here (and not from somewhere like Canada... just from a colder part of Texas), I was constantly shamed for allowing my kids to wear flip flops when it was "cold." I knew we had acclimated when we made our kids go back in the house for hoodies and then started the car, and the outdoor temp gage clicked on with a reading of 74!

[Terabith]

1 minute ago, staceyobu said:

When we first moved here (and not from somewhere like Canada... just from a colder part of Texas), I was constantly shamed for allowing my kids to wear flip flops when it was "cold." I knew we had acclimated when we made our kids go back in the house for hoodies and then started the car, and the outdoor temp gage clicked on with a reading of 74!

I let my 2 year old play in the "river" at the children's section of the San Antonio Zoo when the outside temperature was in the upper 60's.  Probably the only reason I didn't get reported to CPS was because we were almost the only folks at the zoo, since it was "so cold!"