To Close...Or Not To Close

I have sympathy for the area’s school superintendents.

They are tasked with deciding whether to open or close school doors when weather threatens. Yesterday morning was a difficult call. The forecast called for as much as seven inches of snow. We got a little over an inch. Many schools closed…others didn’t.

I made the call for three colleges…and while it is different because college students are adults and don’t have to wait out in the elements for buses….I understand the role.

Trust me. This is one of the great “no win” situations in education. If you call school and the forecast overstated the snowfall, people will do their “I walked to school in a foot of snow back in the day” speech. Armchair meteorologists will light you up. Working parents will scramble to find babysitters and bad-mouth you.

But if you decide to go to school and the snow arrives late, you are abused by students, parents and staff. You are a daredevil unwilling to trust the National Weather Service.

Always remember--Superintendents’ prime concern is always the safety of their students. That’s the prime question they ask themselves on snow mornings. Will my kids be safe?

I infrequently closed Frontier when I was president. Almost never. And when I decided to stay open during a weather event I would always get an earful. The most vocal were always the nursing students. Here is how I closed every one of those calls….I’d point out---once they graduated and got their first job as an ER nurse---I’d advise against calling their nursing supervisor saying, “What do you mean the hospital is open today? It’s snowing.” 

Not a good strategy for promotion…or continued employment for that matter.