Here are two scenarios, with one of them leading to schools closing in the Madison, Wis., area. Which one is which?
- Dec. 9: Heavy snowstorm all day with a predicted 3-5″ of accumulation; road conditions are treacherous during the morning commute, with numerous slide-offs.
- Dec. 15 Snowstorm the night before with accumulation of 4-5″; main roads are cleared before the morning commute.
Oddly, schools were not closed in the first situation but were closed in the second situation. In several media stories, a spokesperson for one of the school districts explained that they factor in consultations with various parties (e.g., meteorologists, and transportation providers) and that each weather situation is analyzed on a case-by-case basis.
The district’s opaque and contradictory explanations often make the public think that decisions are arbitrary. For example, school officials say they look at road conditions. If that’s the case, then schools should have been closed on Dec. 9 and remained open on Dec. 15.
Understandably, school districts often find themselves in a “damned if you, damned if you don’t” situation about closures. To solve this issue, district leaders should create a checklist for weather-related closure decisions and make it publicly available. It would look at all areas such as temperature and road conditions, and each of these areas can be weighted based on importance.
When making school closure announcements, the districts could publish the results of the checklist and then explain why the decision was made (e.g., “Due to [factor 1], [factor 2] and [factor 3] …”). This transparent process would help build informed consent among stakeholders (e.g., parents).
In other words, even if a parent is miffed about the inconvenience a school closure causes, they would at least be (more) accepting of why schools were closed.