Snow Days and School Closings

[eskimo2]

I grew up in Alaska; it took several feet of snow overnight to close school.  I don’t think they ever closed school for it being too cold.  A couple of friends in Alaska think that we had outside recess regardless of the temperature.  I remember a minus 20 cut-off for outside recess, but I’m not sure.  I’ve heard the cut-off now in Alaska is -20.

I live in Ohio now; a state that borders Lake Erie.  Last week it was 6 degrees F. and the wind-chill pushed it down to -19; schools were closed for two days.  I played outside for hours each day.  Yesterday and today it’s been snowing non-stop but we have less than a foot of snow; schools were closed yesterday and tomorrow (it’s still snowing in the middle of the night).  I went out for pizza last night; the roads were snowy, but reasonably plowed.  Even my neighborhood street has been plowed a couple of times in the past 24 hours.

Have places in the northern 48 states always been so timid?  

What does it take to close schools in your area?

[Tarmac]

A lot of people around here were pretty surprised when schools closed down.  I can't remember schools ever closing for any reason short of 8-12 inches of snow overnight, yet they closed down here too.  No reason other than the cold.  I can understand it if the busses won't start or something, but it was just cold.  Put on an extra sweatshirt and bundle up, idiots.    

We're turning into a bunch of pansies.

[Sixpence]

"In my day, we walked 40 miles in our bare feet in 30 inches of snow.."

Screw that macho bull****, anyone who gets out of bed when it drops below 40 degrees is an idiot and should be shot on sight

[eagl]

Eskimo,

My wife worked for 3 months at a hospital in the northeast, and they had to implement some fairly extreme measures anytime the temperature dropped below zero due to some deaths.  You can't lock exit doors, but that means occasionally you'll get a patient who takes a wrong turn and winds up outside in the cold at night in an alleyway behind the hospital annex.  They had an elderly and slightly confused patient and a "merely" sick patient exit and die from exposure halfway back to the front door...  There is no way to hold every patient's hand 24 hrs a day, no way to guard all exits, no way to confine patients to certain areas.

Schools are the same way.  You can't watch every single kid every second, not with the level of school supervision nowadays since every volunteer must go through a federal background check and meet other strict requirements.  So if there's a chance a kid is going to be found frozen solid out by the dumpster, they're going to be inclined to close the school whether it's in Alaska or South Texas.

[Blooz]

Schools are a bit more scared of lawyers these days.

It's much more sensible to take a day off when extreme weather hits and make it up later than get slapped by a multi million dollar lawsuit.

For me, I walked to school every day. A snowday was a god send.

These days I work outside. Yesterday was single digits and a stiff wind which drove the temp well below zero. I'm sure hoping the boss calls today off. Yesterday was stupid cold. It's tough to hold and drive nails with three pairs of gloves on.

[Nilsen]

I have never been to a school or heard of one that has closed for snow or low temperatures. I know there is a rule that sais something about schools having to close if its below a sertain temp _inside_ but never outside.

I have however heard about schools closing up north in the autumn and winter under severe storms when you cant move about on the roads or if roofs are in danger of blowing off.

[Xargos]

If someone even says the word "snow" down here the whole state shuts down.


*edited because of incomplete word.

[DREDIOCK]

Originally posted by eskimo2
I grew up in Alaska; it took several feet of snow overnight to close school.  I don’t think they ever closed school for it being too cold.  A couple of friends in Alaska think that we had outside recess regardless of the temperature.  I remember a minus 20 cut-off for outside recess, but I’m not sure.  I’ve heard the cut-off now in Alaska is -20.

 

I walk my daughter to school every day two blocks. downhill,both ways

But seriously. there is a lady I often end up talking to who just moved here from Alaska and we had this very same conversation.
Cut off time for recess is -20. but she says its a much more dry cold there then here with not much in the way of wind.

She says it "feels" colder here then in Alaska due to the humidity and wind chill

[lasersailor184]

The people of Pennsylvania are notorious for panicking when the least amount of snow is on the way.

[Kieran]

Another factor is how much snow a region usually gets and the amount of snow equipment available.

Let's not forget kids have to stand in the cold and wait for buses.

Then there's the staff that has to walk in on icy sidewalks. Workman's comp is a hassle for corporations. Unions and all.

Or the kids that drive to school. Most of 'em are inexperienced. One wreck and you have moms and dads claiming shouldn't have been in session at all. Lawsuit.

The public has a lot more to do with how a school operates than most guess.

[kamilyun]

My wife went to college that was next to a hospital.  Their rule was that classes were canceled and the school closed when the hospital was closed.  

[eskimo2]

Bus stop story:

When I was in junior high we had a bus that was very inconsistent with its arrival time.  We would wait often for 10 minutes in near zero temperatures.  We started bringing stuff to burn and would have a small fire while we waited.  This was all at an intersection of two pretty major roads; hundreds of cars drove by and no one ever said a thing.  One day a kid brought a half gallon of gas and poured it on the fire.  As he poured the fire raced up the pour stream toward the can.  He panicked, threw the can up in the air and ran.  The can spun and flung flaming gas onto his coat and pants.  He kept running until he heard everyone yelling “stop, drop and roll”.  So he stopped, dropped and rolled while we smothered him with snow.  I don’t think he had any serious burns but he ruined his clothes.  I think we discontinued our bus stop fires after that.

[United]

Schools were closed here today due to some freezing rain at night.  I just went out at 8 this morning, got breakfast, gas, and picked up my check from work.  (Mind you, school here starts at 9).  I didn't notice any ice on any roads, and from what I could see the sun was already drying most of the water on the roads from the RAIN.

[FiLtH]

Its whacky here. They give the kids just so many snow days. But they hate to make em up at the end if they exceed the given number. So in the beginning, especially if icy, they cancel at the drop of a hat...towards March, it could snow 3 ft and they'd find a way to ship em in.

[eskimo2]

Another school transportation story:

When I was in high school I had a different beater car each year.  During my senior year I had a bug.  It broke down in the winter and I spent a few weeks tearing it apart and fixing it.  Meanwhile, I had no ride to school.  It was less than a mile to school but it was cold and I was a stupid high school kid who didn’t dress properly.  I found that if I waited at the nearest intersection I could hook a ride on the back of a car or city bus.  They would slow down considerably for the corner and I would sprint a few steps, grab onto the bumper and hang on in a squat (lower than the trunk).  The streets were snow covered so I could just slide along behind the car or bus and they never knew I was there.  As they approached the high school I’d just let go; I was a good skier so I could just glide to a stop in the middle of the street.  I could usually time my release so that I would be stopped in front of the school doors.  The busses were most exciting because they drove the fastest; like maybe 35 mph.  After a couple of weeks I realized that even though this was sort of fun, it also kind of sucked and was a bit dangerous.  Sometimes wait a few minutes and not be able to catch a ride if cars turned the corner too fast to grab on; I’d end up walking to school after waiting for nothing.  That also sucked.

Then came plan B.  

I took the brake pads off of my 10-speed and wound wire around the tires and rims.  I figured they would be kind of like mini tire chains.  It worked well enough that I could ride on snow.  I rode my bike to school on the snow packed roads for several weeks until I fixed my car.  Note that this was in the days before mountain bikes and studded tires.  No one rode bikes in the winter back then.  Now hundreds do in Anchorage.