LONDON, Ohio (WSYX) — If a decision hasn’t been made already, most districts in central Ohio aim to decide whether to issue a snow day by 4:30 to 5:30 in the morning.
The process of making a call starts at least 24 hours in advance, sometimes days in advance, depending on the weather system and district.
“Any time there’s an opportunity for us to delay or cancel, I’ll hear about it,” said London City Schools Superintendent Dr. Lou Kramer.
Dr. Kramer said he drives around the district himself early in the morning to check on road conditions.
“Being a superintendent, you now have the power to call a snow day, right? It is actually a tremendous responsibility, one that I’m certain that all of us take very seriously.”
He pointed out that due to the district’s location, it’s not always the easiest decision.
“London is a mix of city, school district, and we also have a number of rural roads, and so our roads can vary depending on the municipality that is responsible for clearing the roads,” he said. “So looking at all kinds of road conditions in a snow day like this, it could certainly vary when crews are out on the roads, depending on where you are in the district.”
South Western City Schools also deals with a similar situation because the district stretches across multiple counties.
“What is the precipitation on the road? What do some of the side streets look like? What do some of the major freeways, intersections look in and around those nine different zip codes in our 119 square miles that we cover as Ohio’s fifth largest school system.” asked Evan Debo, Executive Director of Communications at South Western City Schools.
South Western City Schools also has its own fleet of plows and salt trucks, ready to roll out at about 3 in the morning.
“We’ve got five of these trucks that help facilitate the salt piece, and then about 18 to 20 individual plows on trucks out in the lot as well to hit our 34 different schools and then our different office and satellite sites,” Debo said.
For Columbus City Schools, collaboration is key to making the call.
Maurice Woods, the COO, said CCS leaders communicate with transportation staff, city workers, COTA, and other districts in the region. There’s also a chain of approval for the final decision.
“If they see something down south or up north, they can enter into the chat,” he explained. “The storm’s moving this way. We’re seeing gusts of wind. So then the chat starts. And that’s when we start collaborating with some of the other districts. So we literally have eyes all around the region to monitor where the snow is and how it’s falling.”
Woods said it all comes down to safety.
“It’s really based on making sure that we do what’s best for our students, and the safety of our students is priority,” Woods said.
As for snow day superstitions, Debo said they unfortunately do not change the circumstances.
“We do look at obviously the more meteorological factors and then again the on-site experiences of our employees across the day,” Debo said. “But nevertheless we understand it’s part of the school customs and rituals for students, and our staff absolutely take part in those as well too, whether they admit it or not.”
Some districts do not issue delays, including South Western City Schools and Columbus City Schools. Leaders said that due to their bell schedules and busing needs, pushing back the day’s start time would not work.
