Every year, especially after our first weather-related school closing last week, we think it’s important to review our school closing procedures, especially as it relates to cold weather (we get the most questions about temperature-related closings, because they can be a tad confusing).
With that said, the majority of our school closings are caused by hazardous road conditions, mainly on our rural roads. With the cold season here, here’s a refresher on our snow day procedures.
The Process
District personnel travel our roads as early as 3:00am on mornings when weather could potentially cause a district-wide closing. They travel main roads as well as our rural roads (Lapeer Community Schools is home to 225 miles of paved and unpaved roads). This means that at any given time, some roads will be passable as normal while others could be impassable.
With that in mind, district officials must weigh not only the ability of our drivers to navigate the roads, but also be mindful that they are sharing the roads with other drivers, including young drivers, in all types of vehicles.
In the early morning hours of a potentially adverse weather day, district officials are often in contact with the Lapeer County Road Commission as well as transportation personnel in nearby districts. This allows us to gain a better understanding of the current road conditions as well as up-to-date information on plow schedules. Very often, our superintendent also shares information with school officials from neighboring districts.
Because some of our buses leave the garage as early as 5:25 a.m., we do our best to make the call as early as possible. In some cases, rapidly-changing weather conditions can cause a cancellation after our buses are on the road. In these rare cases, we get firsthand information from our drivers that road conditions are deteriorating. Being a bus driver can be difficult work, even on the best of days. If it’s a tough call, we will err on the side of safety. Our drivers shoulder a tremendous responsibility and for that we are grateful.
At times it is necessary to release students early during in-session school days as weather conditions deteriorate. In these cases, generally we will release our secondary students first in order to ensure that older siblings are home when the younger ones arrive.
Temperature Cancellations
School districts may also close as a result of cold temperatures. We’ve experienced this numerous times, though recently winters have been more “mild” (for Michigan, at least). There is, however, no state law that mandates school districts close at a given temperature.
Some school districts have a wind chill threshold that determines if schools will be closed. For some it’s minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit of wind chill, for others it’s minus 20 degrees. Some districts use an actual temperature threshold, as opposed to a wind chill. Other districts do not have a set policy for cold weather closures and simply play it by ear.
Lapeer Community Schools, like many of our neighbors, utilizes the National Weather Service Windchill Chart that dictates school closures when a combination of temperature and wind speed create conditions that can cause frostbite to exposed skin within 30 minutes. Given that standard, there is a variance of actual temperatures that can cause a closure. As an example, if the actual temperature were 5 degrees above zero with wind speeds at 40 miles per hour, schools would close (the wind chill would be minus 22 degrees). However, if the actual temperature were much colder, let’s say minus 15 degrees, schools would be open if there was just a trace of wind (i.e. less than 3 mph). In that case, the wind chill and the actual temperature would be the same — minus 15 degrees.
In order to have a uniform standard of temperature and wind speed, the district will utilize readings from one weather station: The Dupont-Lapeer Airport. We get inundated with screenshots with temperature readings and wind chill from all over the county on cold days, so it’s best we use one reading consistently.
There is not a similar chart with respect to snowfall, as closures precipitated by snow accumulation are based solely on the condition of our roads – including our rural roads. With higher wind speeds leading to drifting, sometimes the snow amounts are not indicative of the actual condition of the roads.
Communications
School closing information can be found on LapeerSchools.org, our social media outlets (Instagram and Facebook), via local media stations including ABC 12, WEYI, the Detroit stations (TV and radio) and via our School Messenger (phone, email and text) system. Our phone system is a little slower than social media, so people who check those sites will be the first to know.
As referenced above, there are times when weather conditions can change drastically in a very short timeframe. We do the best we can to communicate as quickly as possible, but late calls are possible in these circumstances.
School Events/Activities
When school is closed, we will publish information online and via School Messenger about the status of evening activities. This information is generally disseminated before noon at the latest. If schools are closed, any events in the district sponsored by the City of Lapeer Parks & Recreation are cancelled. The status of all other events determined on a case-by-case basis, including consultation with officials from other school districts regarding athletic events. Athletic practices are always non-mandatory on cancelled school days.
Cancelling school is not a decision we, or officials from any school district, take lightly. We cannot predict the future and, as you all know, weather can change in an instant. We live in Michigan, and even in the best of winters, there will be many days that require extra attention on the roads and a few extra layers on our backs.
That said, student safety will ALWAYS be our primary concern when making decisions regarding school cancellations.
Thank you!