IDAHO, USA — One winter storm is down, and another is already on the way! Severe winter weather prompted a host of school cancelations and road closures Wednesday. Meteorologists are forecasting a similar scenario is likely to occur Friday into Saturday.
But the question is: Will these forecasted storms prompt similar school closures? And if so, how do school districts decide to close or to remain open?
On Wednesday, dozens of area school districts canceled classes and closed for the day, including Boise School District and West Ada School District, as well as Boise State University and University of Idaho-Boise.
On the contrary, nearby school districts that experienced the same winter storm, even receiving similar snowfall, remained open.
Caldwell, Kuna, Middleton, Nampa and Vallivue school districts are among those that stayed open and convened as usual on Wednesday.
The varying response from school districts across the state had some parents wondering, 'Why?' and 'How do these districts make the decision to close or not?' (repeat of the similar question at the top)
The question especially arose for community members in districts where schools remained open, even though local law enforcement urged people to stay home.
Nampa Police Department, for example, issued a traffic alert just after 7 a.m. telling people to "please stay home" and that the highway was "nearly at a standstill with slick conditions and crashes."
In response to the inquiry, Vallivue School District and Caldwell School District cited school bus operations, alternative childcare arrangements and a limited window of time to make the final call on whether or not to cancel school for the day, as contributing factors.
Vallivue School District issued the following statement:
We hope everyone is safe this morning. Please know that tardies from yesterday and today are excused as staff and families drive safely and slowly to school. Please know that calling or not calling a snow day is a very difficult decision to make. When the weather report shows impending snow, we are up at 3 AM checking the roads. Brown Bus Company and Vallivue's maintenance crew drives the roads, checking the variety of areas Vallivue covers from Birch Elementary near the Idaho Center to West Canyon and out toward Homedale. Due to our wide geographic spread, the weather can vary dramatically from area to area. By 4:00 AM, superintendents from other nearby districts share their reports and communicate to make the best decision possible for each district. This decision must be made between 5:00 and 5:30 AM as our bus drivers need to be in their buses before 6 AM to begin their routes. The decision also has to be made early enough to give families time to make arrangements for childcare. Sometimes, the weather changes from the time the decision has been made at 5:00 AM to 8 AM. This is one of those mornings, which is by then too late to cancel school and stop the bus routes in action. This is one of the hardest decisions we make. It is our responsibility to make the best decision we can with the information we have at the time. Thank you for taking the time to learn about the criteria and efforts everyone takes before making a final decision.
Caldwell School District stated the following:
With the inclement weather in the forecast, we would like to let you know how the district decides to call a snow day. If and when snow is in the forecast, our District Safety Team is up in the early morning hours checking the road conditions. Members from our Safety Team, as well as representatives from the Caldwell Transportation Company, drive the roadways within our District; this includes areas like Canyon Hill all the way to Homedale Road. As we saw with Wednesday's storm, the weather can vary dramatically from county to county and district to district. Decisions need to be made as early as possible so families can make arrangements for childcare. Bus Drivers also need to be informed as soon as possible to make sure they have plenty of time to begin their routes. Like Wednesday's storm, the weather can change from the time the decision has been made to either close school or continue on with classes. This decision is never easy to make and we do our very best with the information we have at the time. Please know tardies from Wednesday will be excused for both students and staff.
View the full list of school closures on KTVB's 'closings and delays' page.
**Note: KTVB Closings and Delays webpage constantly automatically refreshes to reflect the current closures. List of schools impacted on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, will no longer be listed on page when closures and delays are no longer in effect.
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