Snow days, cold days: How Michigan schools decide it’s time to cancel classes

“If there is any question at all about the safety of the students, then we close,” said Coloma Community School District Superintendent Dave Ehlers.

Ehlers said districts in Berrien County close if the wind chill is minus 20 or below. He said it’s important to give parents time to plan, but he also doesn’t want to cancel school too early and then the weather turns out to be OK.

“It’s not a difficult decision, but many factors come into play. It’s all about student safety,” Ehlers.

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Tina Kerr, executive director of the Michigan Association of Superintendents & Administrators, said many schools have policies to close schools if the wind chill drops below a certain threshold because school administrators don’t want to put students waiting for buses at risk.

She said a negative wind chill of 15 or 20 degrees is a common cutoff point. “It’s hard to pinpoint an actual temperature because they have to look at so many factors,” Kerr said.

Michigan schools must have at least 180 days of instruction each school year and may cancel school up to six days for things beyond their control such as bad weather or health conditions. They can request a waiver from the Michigan Department of Education for up to three more days.

Kerr said she just left a superintendent’s conference Friday where school leaders were already talking about the cold weather.

In the case of next week, families can expect superintendents to call each other to make a decision about what to do.

Many schools are already scheduled to be closed Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday. School inspectors face the decision: make the weekend even longer?

Ypsilanti Community Schools Superintendent Alena Zachery-Ross said her “No. 1 hope all along” is to have the school open, as many students depend on the school for food and a safe place to be during the day.

But a combination of inclement weather and concerns about bus drivers or teachers could force a closure.

“Our goal is to educate students, people have asked me before, ‘do we take it easy to cancel school days? No one.'”

Zachery-Ross said she generally aims to make the snow day decision by 5:30 in the morning to give families time to plan accordingly.

Northville Public Schools are in Oakland and Wayne counties. Superintendent RJ Webber told Bridge that all the superintendents in Oakland County meet and listen to a meteorologist. In Wayne County, superintendents are debating what to do. If all superintendents choose to close, they coordinate the timing of the announcement.

Webber said he hasn’t called a cold day in the two and a half years he’s been superintendent in this district. But he already has meetings scheduled for Monday afternoon to discuss the weather with other superintendents.

Superintendents acknowledge that a day off for students can cause headaches for parents. If a school closes, parents often struggle to find childcare. This can mean a parent misses a day of pay to take care of their children.