As winter started to wrap up this year, Mother Nature caught everyone by storm. The district leaders decided to cancel school due to inclement weather twice, as well as push school start times forward a flurry of times. While the impact of the snow was less this year compared to last year, nearly a week of school was lost because of it.
Students and staff had varying opinions on this year’s snowfall. Superintendent Jeff Snell says, “2017 was crazy. I don’t think our district has ever had ten snow days like we did. With only 2 this year, it has been a little easier to manage.” Some students really enjoyed the time off. Junior Ryan Brown says, “I really enjoyed the snow days because I was able to get caught up on work and study for an exam.” Other students did not care for the abrupt snow days. Freshman Armand Nunez said, ”I don’t really like the snow days because I felt locked in my house all day.”
Students and staff had many different ways of preparing for the late season snowfall. Some students did not make a huge effort to prepare for the snow and let it just happen. Sophomore Michael Windom says, “I heard there was going to be snow but didn’t think much about it and was just planning to go to school in the morning.” Other students went all out in preparing for the snow. Freshman Blake Bell said, “I made sure that we had a pantry full of my favorite snacks because I knew we weren’t going to have school the next day.” No matter how much someone plans, sometimes Mother Nature has to turn her course. Mr. Snell said, “there’s not much else we can do; if snow and ice comes, we have to wait for the roads to be safe again.
Due to the outrageous number of snow days two years ago, school was pushed out one day later at the end of the school year. The district also set aside five snow days to prepare for this year’s inclement weather. This year’s snow days are already affecting next year’s schedule. Next year school is set to start one day earlier than usual. While this is not a big change, it does show that the district is preparing for the worst next year.
Buses are especially affected by any sort of snow, from a tiny frost to several inches. Bus driver Katrine said, “if the roads are bad, we either have to wait it off or cancel school.” Students who ride the bus shared how they know when there is not going to be school. Freshman Christian Leonard said, “if the roads are looking a little wet or icy, I know there is a chance of a delay or school cancellation.”
While there are varying are opinions on the snow days, everyone can agree that, in one way or another, they have been affected by the weather this year. The administration is taking this into account more and more as the weather continues to interfere with the school year.