This is kind of like an open letter to everyone complaining about schools closing or not closing due to weather. I realize it can be a frustrating process but I think that a tiny bit of perspective might help.
Every year during hurricane season and winter I have some students who are complaining that school wasn't cancelled because they wanted a free day to play Fortcraft or whatever. And every year I also have some students who are complaining that whatever weather event everyone is worried about isn't even that bad. This is likely a defense mechanism because they don't want to get their hopes up. Smart kids.
The day before a predicted storm or snow, my kids will ask a ton of questions in class and I will redirect them to a science teacher while refreshing weather.com. It's like I always say. Safety third.
We all go home after school and check social media and the weather while we await a decision. Counting our bottles of water that yesterday would have been bad for the environment but today seem to be a matter of life or death. We charge every electronic we own and we buy gas we don't need and we purchase non-perishable food items. For some that means crackers and canned goods and protein bars. For me it means Reese's and Goldfish.
When we finally get the phone call or the email or the text, we take to social media to express our delight or disappointment. And it all goes downhill (or uphill in the snow both ways) from there. If school is closed there's always a Justin who says it's not even that bad and a Brenda who argues they would never close for snow back in Minnesota eh. If school isn't closed there's a Karen who complains that she's going to sue if something happens to her kids and a Mike who swears every other school in the state is closed.
Here's the thing. Sometimes school closures are issued by district, not individual schools. So depending on your specific district...the weather conditions at your house may differ from other parts of the district. Revolutionary, I know. But weather isn't bound by man-made political boundaries. Or by population density. So while your house right off the highway has easy access to salted or plowed roads, a house down a dirt road may be in a far more dangerous position.
Another important thing to consider is that there are these large vehicles called school buses that transport some students to and from school. School buses are...to my (vast and impeccable) knowledge...on the roads before sunrise. Which means ice/snow does not have time to melt. And as someone who briefly stole a friend's truck once (sorry Aubrey) I can attest that larger vehicles are generally more difficult to maneuver than smaller ones. So a big consideration in school closures is how bus-accessible ALL district roads are.
Another issue is power. Yes, there are generators and yes, if we can't get the lights on and it's too dark to read or write we can always just show an educational film (if you were in Mrs. D's 4th grade class you know) but we also need power in the cafeteria. If we can't serve lunch, we can't serve knowledge either. No food, no school. A message that I personally am on board with. I don't wanna deal with hangry students and they don't want to deal with hangry me.
My 1st year teaching we had to stay after school for an extra hour due to a tornado sighting. I had lunch at noon and by 4:00 PM I was instructing students to empty their lunch bags, we were going to need to pool our resources in order to survive and I know at least one of you has a bag of Cheetos. The students refused claiming Constitutional rights or whatever and it was a close call.
School districts have to make a decision before buses hit the roads. And it's helpful to make a call as early as possible so that parents who still have work can arrange childcare. But once you cancel, you can't unring that school bell. Waiting too late may leave some people (and buses) in the lurch, but deciding too early can result in a wasted day. A day that will have to be made up later. One year there was talk of us losing Memorial Day. It got ugly.
Next I want to address the northerners who are always complaining about how North Carolina shuts down if we get an inch of snow. Look. Listen. We live in NORTH CAROLINA. We have no business driving in snow. We chose to live in a place where it rarely snows. If we wanted to deal with all the drama of snow chains and toboggans and thermal underwear we would move to Canada like you.
Additionally, because we live in a tropical paradise instead of an arctic tundra, snow usually means driving on ice. And black ice. And it's not safe. Over in Iceland, you may have temperatures cold enough to sustain snow in its solid form once it hits the ground. In North Carolina, we do not. Our clay soil retains heat well and just bakes that snow like it's a green bean casserole for Sunday dinner. The snow melts when the sun is out and then the sun goes down and all that water refreezes making un- or under-salted roads look like Rockefeller Center in December. See? I'm speaking your language.
You can't expect us to be skilled at driving on ice. Just like I wouldn't expect you to understand how important it is to be able to livestream basketball in March. Having good college basketball teams just isn't your lot in life. And living in a climate where you can't wear a t shirt on Christmas isn't ours.
So there. Does that help? The only thing I can't explain is the milk sandwiches.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
