School leaders consider closures as Stateline Seles for extreme weather

(WIFR) – A flurry of winter counseling and storm warnings hit the State Line on Tuesday, causing administrators to look hard at the potential need to cancel the school.

Security is at the forefront of any decision made by the teachers who are charged with canceling the school. Jason Blume, assistant superintendent in the Harlem School District, says it’s never easy.

“We want to make sure that our children and our staff are safe,” Blume explained. “We look at road conditions, we look at the weather reports, the radar, we listen to our meteorologists.

Administrators like Blume go piece by piece to examine the risks that are by falling snow to the keel that fills the air.

“Often we end up waiting until we actually start seeing the snow fly, or the ice starts to gather before we can make decisions,” Blume shared.

Previous snow cancellations were in the center of parent’s frustration with many believing schools waiting too long to close. But Belviders District 100 Superintendent Cassandra Schug says some people do not understand the unpredictability that comes with extreme weather, even with the use of tools from National Weather Service.

“We really try to get to school when we can when there is advice,” Schug said. “You need to consider the specific conditions in your area. When it is a warning, it is very likely that I will close schools for the day. “

Just this year, Belviders introduced the possibility of e-learning, but with the necessary time to prepare.

“If we had a circumstance where the weather conditions changed this weekend and we had to call on a Monday and we had not sent children home with Chromebooks and what not on Friday, then we would use an emergency day,” Schug said .

However, Blume believes that e-learning is not ideal for optimal education. He says snow days are the perfect time to let the kids be children.

“We want it to be just the best opportunity to make sure we still give the children the learning opportunities they need and deserve,” Blume said. “For us, we feel that it is best happening in the classroom on a regular school day.”

If there is a potential for extreme weather, Blume hopes that parents have a plan in action. He and Schug say it is ultimately the parents’ decision to send their child to school when the weather takes an ugly turn.

Copyright 2025 WIFR. All rights reserved.