Making the right decision

Making the right decision

Area superintendents weigh several factors when calling off school
Katie Landeck
News Staff Writer

Most snow days are a tough call, according to Gardner Superintendent Carol Daring, but yesterday’s wasn’t one of them.

“A number of factors go into calling a snow day,” said Dr. Daring. “This one, in the grand scheme of things, was easy.”

On the morning of a potential snow day, most superintendents are up by 4:30 a.m. to check the weather forecast and to start making calls to the local police dispatcher, plow contractors, the local Department of Public Works and other superintendents.


The big question: “is it safe or not safe to have kids on the buses?” said Narragansett Regional School District Superintendent Ruth Miller.

This question can typically be answered by the plow companies, she said.

Narragansett Regional School District is spread out and includes rural communities, which can make can make it difficult to finish the plowing by the start of the school day.

By contrast, it’s easier for the plows to get around Gardner quickly, which means fewer snow days, according to Dr. Daring.

“There have been times when the other schools around us canceled and we didn’t and that’s because the DPW can get the roads plowed in time,” Dr. Daring said.

Superintendents also ask themselves how the snow will impact student learning.

This question has been debated by education experts for years. Some researchers firmly believe that the disruption caused by a snow day hurts student learning. Others, such as Harvard Kennedy School Assistant Professor Joshua Goodman, believe snow days aren’t all that bad.

In a recent Harvard study,  Mr. Goodman found that “with slack time in the schedule, the time lost to closure can be regained.”

What this means is that if the school plans on making up the lost time later, the disruption caused by a snow day isn’t harmful to learning.

“Students will come back and get right back to work and no one will miss  a beat,” said Dr. Daring.

Mr. Goodman said students are often absent anyway when there’s a storm, which forces “teachers to expend time getting students on the same page as their classmates.”

While both Dr. Daring and Dr. Miller agree that while students can recover from snow days, neither one likes to call them.

“I’m not a big  fan of snow days,”  said Dr. Miller. “I don’t like to disrupt the learning process.”

Even worse than calling a snow day is calling for a late arrival or early dismissal, according to Dr. Daring. That’s time the teachers and students don’t get back, and can cause complications for parents who have to arrange day care for their children.

“The toughest ones are the ones that take us by surprise, like when it is 10 a.m. and it starts snowing like crazy,” said Dr. Daring.

In these cases, superintendents often have no choice but to pull the plug and hope mother nature is kinder the next day.