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| Northbound on Holmes. Two miles south of Schrock Road at approximately 4:30 in the afternoon. |
Nevertheless, I did get a chuckle out of a recent article in the Des Moines Register titled, 'Iowans are mad about the snow, and happy to let you know about it'. But what really got my attention was the same day article, 'The controversial decision every school faces: When should classes be canceled?' Before we go any further it is important to note that student safety is without a doubt the number one and highest priority whenever making weather related decisions to cancel, delay, or dismiss students early. Yet at the same time, we need to talk a little bit about politics before we talk about process. Because I promise you, we get plenty of 'feedback' and 'input' into our decision making!
Don't think politics are at play in these decisions? Consider the fact the word 'controversial' is in the title of the aforementioned article. As right as we think we may be on either side of making the 'should we stay or should we go' decision, only means someone else will think exactly the opposite. Further, as the district in the above article probably learned the hard way: it isn't all that easy or fun being on an island (deserted that is!). Look, a school district can be right on the money with a very defensible position for not disrupting a regularly scheduled school day. But right or not, how many phone calls does a person have to swat down to prove that point? Further, how meaningful is that day of instruction in light of the environmental factors that are most certainly at play? My colleague, Dr. Zellmer of South Hardin puts it this way when he posted the following on Twitter after the January 18th event:
Ah yes, the January 18th event! This was the day we decided to dismiss school early because the forecast indicated snow was on the way. Not just a little, but a lot! This particular decision was made a bit trickier for school superintendents since most of us were at the winter meeting of the school executives of Iowa in Des Moines. Trying to determine whether or not to cancel or dismiss school from more than 100 miles away is very complicated when you can't observe conditions on the ground first hand. As it turns out, our decision to dismiss was ill informed since the snow didn't start until about 5:00 p.m. While I may have looked silly for making that decision, our weather forecasters certainly didn't help the situation out much!
To make matters a bit worse, we cancelled school again on January 22nd, when promised by our weather forecasters that snowmageddon (basically a made up word so I'll say it's spelled correctly) would arrive by 7:00 a.m. Uh, it didn't really start snowing hard until later in the afternoon. Strike Two! Well, maybe not so much. I mean after all, we did have a little freezing rain that made for some slippery roads, parking lots, and sidewalks. But I will say this: even though an argument could be made both of those decisions were made in error, based on the same set of circumstances I would make them again (of course the same set of circumstances without the retrospect of hindsight). The fact is, I'll never regret cancelling or dismissing school based on the information I have to work with at the time. I might, however, regret NOT cancelling or dismissing school.
So then, a bit about my process. Typically planning for a weather related event begins between 24-48 hours in advance when we receive weather bulletins that outline the parameters of what to expect. The further out they are, the less accurate they tend to be, and as we have learned recently they are sometimes still not very accurate! Once the event starts, understanding conditions out in the open spaces of the district is critical. This means getting out and driving, which most of the time means I am on the road around 4:00 a.m. My typical route covers roughly 25 miles and encompasses portions of all bus routes, running from the southern to the northern part of the district. It generally takes about an hour to complete the circuit. I can promise you this: the conditions in town are usually not at all the same as conditions outside of town!
While I am on the road, so are all my colleagues in other districts. In most cases, we'll confer the evening before to see if it is advantageous to call for a delay instead of an outright cancellation. Timing is everything, and sometimes we need a little bit more of it to see how the weather system develops. I deplore calling for two hour delay and then turning around and cancelling school! I understand how disruptive this is for families, but sometimes that extra time makes the difference.
The final decision rests entirely with the superintendent of each individual school district, but it should come as no surprise these phone conferences are designed to share information and experience from one locale to another, and in some cases create consensus. It is not uncommon for school districts to present a united front when it comes to weather related cancellations.
Here we are then. Today is January 28, 2019 and we have again cancelled school. Based on the wind and condition of the secondary roads it appears, at least this time, to have been the right call. The trouble is, we are not out of the woods by a long shot. Beginning tonight and continuing to the end of the week the bottom is forecast to drop out of the thermometer. Meteorologists are saying we should expect 'generational low temperatures' with wind chills colder that -50 degrees. It is safe to say with weather predicted to be this dangerous, we will be considering our options.
I'll close with this little factoid. During the second year of my tenure at Hudson we had 7 weather related cancellations, which is a record under my watch. I certainly hope we don't break that record this year. Stay warm and dry, everyone!
To make matters a bit worse, we cancelled school again on January 22nd, when promised by our weather forecasters that snowmageddon (basically a made up word so I'll say it's spelled correctly) would arrive by 7:00 a.m. Uh, it didn't really start snowing hard until later in the afternoon. Strike Two! Well, maybe not so much. I mean after all, we did have a little freezing rain that made for some slippery roads, parking lots, and sidewalks. But I will say this: even though an argument could be made both of those decisions were made in error, based on the same set of circumstances I would make them again (of course the same set of circumstances without the retrospect of hindsight). The fact is, I'll never regret cancelling or dismissing school based on the information I have to work with at the time. I might, however, regret NOT cancelling or dismissing school.
So then, a bit about my process. Typically planning for a weather related event begins between 24-48 hours in advance when we receive weather bulletins that outline the parameters of what to expect. The further out they are, the less accurate they tend to be, and as we have learned recently they are sometimes still not very accurate! Once the event starts, understanding conditions out in the open spaces of the district is critical. This means getting out and driving, which most of the time means I am on the road around 4:00 a.m. My typical route covers roughly 25 miles and encompasses portions of all bus routes, running from the southern to the northern part of the district. It generally takes about an hour to complete the circuit. I can promise you this: the conditions in town are usually not at all the same as conditions outside of town!
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| Somewhere in the southern part of our district. |
While I am on the road, so are all my colleagues in other districts. In most cases, we'll confer the evening before to see if it is advantageous to call for a delay instead of an outright cancellation. Timing is everything, and sometimes we need a little bit more of it to see how the weather system develops. I deplore calling for two hour delay and then turning around and cancelling school! I understand how disruptive this is for families, but sometimes that extra time makes the difference.
The final decision rests entirely with the superintendent of each individual school district, but it should come as no surprise these phone conferences are designed to share information and experience from one locale to another, and in some cases create consensus. It is not uncommon for school districts to present a united front when it comes to weather related cancellations.
Here we are then. Today is January 28, 2019 and we have again cancelled school. Based on the wind and condition of the secondary roads it appears, at least this time, to have been the right call. The trouble is, we are not out of the woods by a long shot. Beginning tonight and continuing to the end of the week the bottom is forecast to drop out of the thermometer. Meteorologists are saying we should expect 'generational low temperatures' with wind chills colder that -50 degrees. It is safe to say with weather predicted to be this dangerous, we will be considering our options.
I'll close with this little factoid. During the second year of my tenure at Hudson we had 7 weather related cancellations, which is a record under my watch. I certainly hope we don't break that record this year. Stay warm and dry, everyone!
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