(WXYZ) — The forecasted winter storm has school districts and parents around the area trying to figure out how to prepare.
I got the chance to talk to some today about what goes into their decision about whether to have school and when they make the call.
School superintendents are juggling many questions when there’s bad weather on the horizon.
“Will it affect our transportation? Will it affect our staff?” said Nick Russo, Superintendent of Rochester Community Schools.
“Will our school buses be able to have the appropriate traction? And you think about the young drivers that are 16, 17 years old that are on the road. Are they going to be able to navigate that?” said Ben Mainka, Superintendent of Novi School District.
Russo is the Superintendent of Rochester Community Schools, and Ben is the Superintendent of the Novi Community School District. With a winter storm in the forecast, it’s up to them to decide if school happens or not.
WXYZ’s Mike Duffy asked, “What are the most important factors in your equation?”
“Every superintendent will say student safety. And that’s really at the heart of what we do. We would never want to be imagining a school bus full of children or even a car filled with one or two kids that are unable to navigate a road safely,” said Mainka.
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This week, there are different factors to consider.
“If it’s about cold weather, I think it’s a little different decision-making process than it is if it’s snow because it’s about timing as well,” said Russo.
Each area has its own factors to consider.
“In a lot of our districts, the staff may or may not live in the community. So, if they’re traveling from another community where maybe the storm is going to hit them
"We also have to think of are they going to be able to think of are they going to be able to get to school or are they going to have to stay home with their children?” said Mainka.
“We have 66 square miles that we cover. And so, there are very different road conditions that exist on the south and the north of parts of our district,” said Russo.
They tell me they always try to make decisions as early as possible to give parents as much time as possible to make arrangements. So, how are they thinking about the weather overnight?
“You’ll see the weather forecast from what they predicted yesterday even to today as this interview is happening…the confidence level has grown weaker,” said Mainka.
Meaning the timeline gets pushed back. So, what should you expect?
Tomorrow, it looks like it’s going to be a morning call, if there is one,” said Russo.
“I think a lot of the districts are going to be making a call probably early in the morning if they make one at all,” said Mainka.
