Will snow days be a thing of the past? Why does it take so long for the school to cancel? We have these questions answered by former Warren County Superintendent Ed Kemp on an episode of The Weather Lounge.
First, a little background... Ed began his career in the education system as a teacher in Tewksbury Township, NJ, and then became the principal in Mansfield township before becoming the superintendent of Mansfield Township Schools for 10 years. Afterwards, he was then the president of the Warren County Superintendent Association from 2015 - 2017. Ed also spent some time as a wrestling coach, while he was teaching in Tewksbury. Throughout all of his years in the education system, weather always had impacts on is jobs, especially when he became the superintendent.
The main goal of every superintendent, principal, teacher etc. is to make sure their students are healthy and safe while traveling to and from school. If there is significant or severe weather in the forecast, superintendents around the state text, email or call each other to make a game plan on how to handle the situation. This can be accomplished with delayed openings, closing completely, or early dismissals. These actions are usually predetermined before the start of the school day, but it can sometimes be a game time decision if something unexpected happens. For example, in October of 2008, prior to Ed Kemp having WeatherWorks as his main weather provider, there was a strong system that moved along the coast of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. It was expected to produce rain, but temperatures were just a few degrees colder and it began to snow during the school day. To make matters worse, there was a superintendent's convention in Atlantic City and Mansfield had a new principal. This made a very tough situation much more difficult and a plan was needed fast! Unfortunately, since it was snowing, accumulating and not expected to stop immediately, they had to call for an early dismissal, but students and faculty had trouble leaving with some getting stuck at the school. Thankfully, the snow stopped in time for parents to pick up their kids and they did not have to stay the night. However, with that being a possibility, there were thoughts and even loose plans about where these students would sleep and what the school would feed them! Talk about an extremely stressful situation!
Fortunately, the situation described before is a rare occurrence and many times, the decision is a bit easier. In terms of large storms, typically meteorologists can narrow down details on totals between 1-2 days out and if the forecast is for a lot of snow, the decision is more clear cut. Normally, a school will not be cancelled until the day of, but for large and very likely events, school can be cancelled ahead of time. No matter the size of the storm, it all depends on the start time and if the snow will accumulate on roads. If it starts snowing in the morning but isn't expected to be on pavements, they won't cancel. But, if the snow is going to immediately accumulate on pavements, something will need to be done. The roads are the most important aspect to a forecast and for good reason. Most students get a bus to school or are driven, and if the roads are covered with snow, the superintendent wouldn't want there to be any accidents involving students or buses.
As a side note, with online learning now more widespread, we asked Ed if snow days will be a thing of the past. Going into the winter of 2021-22, snow days are still expected, but there are other superintendents that think they won't be needed since online learning can be done efficiently. On the other side of the spectrum, some superintendents think snow days should never go away because they are some of the most exciting times of the year for students and faculty. Kids get to go outside, enjoy a day off and play in the snow, which can be a much needed break for students. For now though, most schools are keeping snow days built into the schedule.
Switching gears, schools aren't always closed or delayed because of snowstorms, extremely cold temperatures can be enough to cause issues. When the temperatures get too cold, water in pipes can freeze, then burst due to the expansion of the ice or if there is too much pressure trying to escape with nowhere to go. Rarely, it can get so cold that the diesel fuel in the buses freezes or "gels up" and they cannot get started quickly. If this is the case, they do have engine pad heaters, which can warm up the engine/fuel and prevent any freezing. This is why accurate forecasts are so important to school districts.
We also asked Ed what is the strangest reason for cancelling or delaying school. The reason? No running water. In his schools, they use UV lights to purify the water and these important lights went out. With no clean water, there was no choice but for the school to close. So, while most closings and delays are weather-related, there can be other rare instances for delays. You never know what the next day holds in education, but there is never a dull moment, especially when it comes to cancelling school in the winter.
