During severe winter weather, there has been a lot of discourse amongst parents about school closures—including concerns about last minute child care, the timing of when the school district announces delays and thoughts on parents getting reimbursed when daycares closed. We compiled some of your questions and thoughts below, with some input from local parents.
Why so many cold/snow days?
Children don’t usually walk to school anymore. Most children ride the bus or are driven to school. This puts more vehicles on the road for school routes, which means there will be more accidents in snowy and icy conditions.
These conditions also make it harder for staff to commute to school. AAPS has already reduced its staff, so if staff aren’t able to make it to the school, classes aren’t getting staffed. Many teachers don’t live near the school they teach at; anecdotally, many don’t even live in Ann Arbor because of rising prices. Which makes it harder for them to get to school. And AAPS takes the safety of its staff into consideration as well when making these calls.
They also calculate the snowiness of neighborhood roads. Sometimes the main roads are able to be cleared, but the neighborhoods where families live still aren’t…