Buffalo, NY (WBEN) With windchills to be well below zero Tuesday, school superintendents have another dilemma to face: whether to cancel school because it's too cold, despite little to no additional snow in the forecast.
Frontier Schools Superintendent Chris Swiatek says he and other superintendents go through a significant amount of conversation. "A lot of it when it comes down to temperature driven, not snow driven, comes down to the walkability of each district and their percentage of population of kids that walk versus don't walk," explains Swiatek. In his district, Swiatek says Blasdell Elementary sees anywhere from about 40 to 60 kids a day that walk but all other schools have a 10% walking population.
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When there are bitter cold windchills, Swiatek says there's no firm factor in shutting down school. "I don't want to speak for any school, but we look for minus 20 to minus 25 wind chill for a sustained 30 minutes, which when exposed skin is sustained, that's when it really becomes significant, because we are a relatively low walking population, that number will will fluctuate district to district based on the superintendent's evaluation of the safety of their their community and their children," says Swiatek.
Hamburg Central Schools Superintendent Tom Adams says it's been a challenging week with with various with the weather systems coming in. "We're taking a look at both the real temperatures and certainly the feel goes by, whether it's real temp or wind chill, those are certainly on the mind with it," says Adams. He says as a superintendent, you're looking to avoid anything along lines that could lead to frostbite for the kids. "With regard to the opening and closing of schools at the same time, we offer a wonderfully warm place in our schools, and we're able to provide two meals a day for our kids as well. So there's some real importance to and the services certainly provide them the learning that goes on, the experience that they have. So it's a, it's a delicate balance," explains Adams.
If there's concern about dwindling snow days, Adams says safety takes precedence. "t's not a case of, well, we've used up X number of snow days, so we can't have any more, because that's sort of saying that's a more important criteria than the kids safety with it. Not that certainly we're going to, we're going to bat 1,000 in terms of people being satisfied with our decisions. But it can't be a case of, well, we've used some days, so we can't ever use anymore, because this is the safety the safety piece is paramount," says Adams.
What about the option of remote learning? Adams prefers not to. "What our priority is, is that we've got our students in school and our staff in school as well. There's such vital services that that are provided for our kids, so our priorities is to have our students in our kids in school," notes Adams. But Swiatek says that remains a possibility. "We're fortunate that we have that ability. We also have the ability to provide internet services for families who are in need once they're identified. We are able to provide remote opportunities in a relatively quick fashion, within 24 to 36 hours," adds Swiatek.
Swiatek says while his district has two days left, a snow day during a state of emergency in New York could give that snow day back.