Another Bitter Day

Well, here we go again. Another day out of school.  This weather is crazy. We have neighboring districts with air and windchill temperature changes of more than 15 degrees, Bushnell was -12/-33 while Astoria was a warmer -8/-14.   As far as our cold districts (-12/-33WC) are concerned,  I am glad that I have people around me that understand that just "because we are tired of missing school it doesn't make it right," to have school for the sake of having school. Another area superintendent said that this morning as we talked about being the first 2 or 3 to cancel. I could not have said it better myself. I have always tried to balance safety and potential for unnecessary trouble with the importance of education and going to school. Decisions like this will always have detractors, no matter which way one decides - but in the end, I don't want my kids or your kids stuck on a broken down bus or waiting outside for a bus in -30 degree weather. Apparently, I am also losing my mind through all of this as I said the wrong date on the phone call this morning and had to call everyone again......like you haven't heard my voice enough in the past 40 days :) Stay warm and we will try again tomorrow.

Central IL Weather - wait 3 minutes and it will change...REALLY

This morning was so frustrating!!! Weather services are amazingly helpful and like most services, prone to some inconsistencies. But this AM was very confusing. Temps in Table Grove varied from -15 to -5 on 3 different sources at several different points in time. Ipava and Vermont varied from
-3 to -10 while Astoria was -3 and Bushnell was -10. This weather is so unpredictable. It is the unpredictability that makes the decision to cancel on days like this - so frustrating and down-right tiring. Today the temps were right on the fence in some parts of the district and in a perfectly safe range in others. So, we fired up the buses, opened the school house doors, and reminded parents of cold weather precautions. We do what we can do. In any event, school is in session. Have a great day and stay warm. I heard 40'a in less than 14 days :)

Seriously?????

So this is how myself and at least 6 other area superintendents felt AGAIN this morning. This weather is insane. Each school has its own reasons for canceling. This AM's air temp was -12. Buses don't like -12 because they take soooooo long to heat up. We began an early start schedule this winter where the buses are started almost 60 minutes before they pick up their first kid. Also, kids at bus stops in -12 air temps isn't good. If we lived in a climate where this was normal we would all be acclimated and we would all dress appropriately. But we don't, kids aren't, and kids definitely do not! Mornings like this make me want to pull out what little hair I have left. I am sure you and most of our kids really do want school to be open.
Tomorrow's forecast looks to be a similar day with slightly warmer temperatures. Please dress the kids for the cold. We will try again tomorrow.

Another Day Out

This is a picture from my windshield from just one of the many VIT CUSD#2 country roads I drove last night around 830pm. The drifting was significant enough that 4 wheel drive was required. Combine this fact with the forecast, and canceling school was the inevitable choice. This has been a long winter already. We have missed 9.5 days of school since January 2nd. I hope we can get into a more consistent pattern soon. Thank you for your patience and cooperation. Have a great day.

Weather Concerns

Well, it is cold again today. Just how cold is open to debate. Regardless of wind speed,-4 air temp is cold. I have attached the 7am weather readings from 3 different weather forecasting and reading services. This is the kind of info that makes days like today a difficult decision. Which one is accurate? After being outside this morning, I think it is a combination of all three. As most of the county closed around us last night, a few of us waited. We were looking at one weather model and those closing were looking at another. Once it became clear that only a couple of us were going to be open, it was determined to error on the side of caution. Closing school is an inexact science. And as we all know, with central Illinois weather - wait 5 minutes and it will change. The problem is that parents and staff and bus drivers all need more than 5 minutes notice before canceling school. I hope you all have a great day and maybe - just maybe this will be the last windchill cancellation of the year.......BUT we do live Illinois.

Outstanding Lunch Meeting

Today, at our quarterly IASA Western Region meeting, we were enlightened on educational policy and legislation by Jim Broadway. Jim has been reporting on and writing about education policy for the past 20 years. His news was not great. Funding will fall for all schools. The state will start the year with a 2.2 billion dollar shortfall. This shortfall will make it nearly impossible for the legislature to fully fund education. Other topics included: curriculum, pensions, retired teachers, and political give-and-takes. 15 current superintendents and administrators were on hand for Jim's conversation.

Cold Weather

Wow.... This is getting old - fast. We have now missed 6 days due to extreme cold weather. As I continue to mention, we close school for the safety of our students and staff during transport to and from school. Bus time wind chill temps of -20 or lower are dangerously low for kids at bus stops. -15 is where we start looking at the possibility of closing. The difficult part is that often, within a few hours, the temps rise to a tolerable level. As we look forward at weather models, these will probably not be the last days this winter we miss.
Thank you for your support - stay warm