Knox County Schools superintendent to decide snow days

A snowstorm is about to hit East Tennessee, and deciding whether Knox County students will get a snow day is never easy.

Knox County Schools Superintendent Jon Rysewyk has student safety in mind first and foremost when making that decision, he told Knox News, balanced with the need for uninterrupted instruction and giving parents time to plan.

And there is far more to weighing than learning. Some students receive food and medicine at school.

“We prefer to be in school, but we don’t want to risk safety,” he said. “When it comes down to it looking like you can put our student drivers at risk, we have a lot of them. About 30,000 of our kids ride the bus. We will always have (safety) as our highest priority.”

Administrators monitor weather reports and call meteorologists at the National Weather Service office in Morristown to get the most up-to-date information before making the final call, Rysewyk said. Transportation, utility and maintenance executives also have their say.

“We try to get families as much time to plan for their students,” he said. “We’re seeing different things right now.”

They will get the best information and try to tell the families today if they need to make plans for Friday, he said.

Earlier this school year, Knox County Schools closed for one day in September due to flooding and high winds from Hurricane Helene as it moved across East Tennessee. The district has eight inclement weather days in a school year.

Freezing temperatures are expected to continue for the near future and heavy snowfall is expected on Friday. The significant winter storm could wreak havoc on the voluntary state and large parts of the Mid-South. A Winter Storm Watch is in place for all of East Tennessee through the morning of January 11th.

Can the school be virtual?

Virtual instruction is difficult to administer, Rysewyk said.

With 60,000 students in the district, it’s difficult to ensure connectivity for everyone, he said. Instead, the district prefers to just take a snow day off.

Areena Aroradata and investigative reporter for Knox News, can be reached via email at [email protected]. Follow her on X @AreenaArora and on Instagram @areena_nyheder.

This article originally appeared on the Knoxville News Sentinel: Knox County Schools superintendent on how he determines snow days