Snow days in Utah County? School officials don’t expect closures this winter
Kids excitedly run out of Amelia Earhart Elementary School after a snowy day in town Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017, in Provo. Lots of factors go in to what makes a snow day, not just sheer snowfall. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
Kids excitedly run out of Amelia Earhart Elementary School after a snowy day in town Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017, in Provo. With lots of snow fall this week in Utah County, parents and families are asking "what makes a snow day?" DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
Kids excitedly run out of Amelia Earhart Elementary School after school on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017, in Provo. Snow regularly causes problems in the winter for schools, but the most particular one is when it is so bountiful that it closes school districts down for the day. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
Kids excitedly run out of Amelia Earhart Elementary School after a snowy day in town Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017, in Provo. When a snow day occurs, it usually closes the school down for the entire day and that school has to make up that day of education later in the year at some point. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
Kids excitedly run out of Amelia Earhart Elementary School after a snowy day in town Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017 in Provo. Lots of factors go in to what makes a snow day, not just sheer snowfall. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
The first Tuesday of the year was busy for Utah County school districts and plow crews. With at least four inches of snow covering the area, there were questions on if students would be returning for their first day back to school in the new year at their scheduled time, or at all.
Plows in Provo City School District were out until 10 p.m. Jan. 2 and started again at 2 a.m. Jan. 3, that Tuesday, to clear the snow.
“They were out plowing for hours and hours,” said Caleb Price, spokesman for Provo City School District.
In the end, Nebo School District had a two-hour delay that day. Two days later, as storms continued to dump snow across the county, the Provo district issued a two-hour delay.
School districts communicate with local municipalities and have spotters across the valley monitoring conditions to help with the decision on whether to delay or close school for the day.
In Provo, it’s been decades since snowfall has caused a school closure, Price said. Decisions to delay or cancel school in the district is made by the superintendent early the day of the bad weather, according to the policy posted on the district’s website.
The process on whether to close or delay school starts at 5 a.m., when the transportation route coordinator contacts the city’s street department to hear about road conditions. If a delay or closure is warranted, the coordinator will contact the district’s business administrator, who will then contact the superintendent for the final decision.
If there are delays or closures for schools in Utah County, districts will send out calls, text messages, post on their websites, alert media and post the decisions on social media.
In Provo City School District, that decision is posted between 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. Price said students won’t be punished for being late if weather delays when they can attend school.
Late starts or closures will be announced as early in the day as possible during bad weather in Alpine School District.
David Stephenson, a spokesman for Alpine School District, said there’s not a specific number of inches of snow that has to be on the ground for school to be canceled.
School is expected to go as scheduled throughout the winter.
“When they do have the roads around the school cleared, we are fully expecting to have school,” Stephenson said.
Parents can keep their children home on bad weather days or bring them to school when they feel it’s safe to do so.
“This is a decision that we respect and expect parents to make on behalf of their children based on the conditions in their neighborhood and their ability to get their children to school safely,” Stephenson said.
Nebo School District administrators are meeting next week to rework the district’s procedures into an easy-to-understand format.
In a district that covers more than 1,300 square miles, weather often varies throughout it.
“Unfortunately, experience has taught us that there is no single decision that will accommodate the desires of every patron and employee,” the drafted policy reads.
Decisions on closures or delayed start will be made by 6 a.m. the morning of the bad weather. Employees are still expected to arrive at their regular contracted time, or as soon as safely possible when a late start is decided on. Parents can choose to keep children home without the children being penalized and make-up schoolwork will be accommodated.
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