It is the hope of almost all school aged children, when there is a snowstorm coming, will school be cancelled, or let out early? When will the announcement be made? Why do schools wait until the last minute to cancel (or so it seems)?

As a parent, I have wondered why schools wait to make an announcement, at what feels like the last minute. I have been woken up at 5am with a phone call from the school district saying classes are delayed or cancelled. Then, it's chaos and hectic activity to figure out where your children are going to be during the day, because adults usually don't get snow days.

With the winter weather headed our way, and snow forecast amounts of over 4 inches, plus wind, there is a possibility that there will be school announcements coming. Sometimes you wish they would go ahead and cancel based on the forecast the day before, but, if the schools do that, it's almost a given that the impending storm will not hit us. So, keeping that thought in mind, I went looking to see why schools will cancel, and why some cancel more often than others.

I found the following on the Faribault School District's website; "

The decision to keep schools open or closed during winter weather is made with the well-being and safety of our students and families in mind. We take into consideration student’s time outside walking to school or waiting at the bus stop.  The decision to delay, release early or close schools is made from weighing several factors:

  • If road conditions and bus travel is unsafe -roads are driven and checked by bus company and school personnel during inclement weather.
  • Wind chill temperatures
  • Excessive snow accumulations"

It should be noted that all parents and caregivers have final discretion in the decision to send their children to school. I have kept my children home when I felt it was just too dangerously cold to wait at the bus stop, or drive them to school.

Every school district looks at the safety of all students and staff when making the final call, and if that call comes in at 5am tomorrow, I know that it will have been carefully considered. I have older children now, so I don't need that back-up plan as much, but when they were younger I had one in place.

What's the over/under on the school announcements tomorrow? You can follow us on KDHL, and our website kdhlradio.com for any weather related announcements.

Snow day
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