When the weather turns nasty, a handful of Snohomish County people have to make a tough choice.
It’s a decision that will affect thousands of local families.
No matter how well thought out, some people are bound to disagree — and complain.
That decision is whether local sc
hools ought to cancel classes because of snow.
Most forecasters were calling for a few inches of snow Tuesday evening followed by warmer temperatures and rain Wednesday. For most areas of the county, that’s exactly what happened.
By 9 a.m. Wednesday, streets, sidewalks and parking lots in Everett where covered with a snow Slurpee. By noon, most of it had dribbled away.
Upset parents called schools and complained about canceling for conditions that wouldn’t faze folks in Spokane — or anybody who had to trudge to school through two feet of snow in 1930.
Roughly half the school districts in Snohomish County closed classrooms Wednesday. They included Everett, Edmonds, Monroe, Mukilteo, Northshore and Sultan.
Just about everybody else chose to go with a two-hour late start.
The decision to cancel school comes with a lot of behind-the-scenes angst.
In most districts, officials watch weather reports closely, sometimes days in advance of a forecast storm’s arrival.
In Marysville, the transportation supervisor gets up at 2 a.m. and drives area roads.
“I doubt she gets a lot of sleep,” said Jodi Runyon, the superintendent’s assistant.
The supervisor calls her colleagues in neighboring districts to see what they’re thinking.
Around 4 a.m., she calls the superintendent and reports what she’s learned.
The superintendent makes the final call. Officials start spreading the word to media and parents by 5:30 a.m.
Similar methods are used in other districts. The biggest concern is the safety of children and school employees, officials said.
“We always err on the side of safety,” Lake Stevens School District spokeswoman Arlene Hulten said.
Road and weather conditions across the entire district have to be considered, said Mary Waggoner, Everett Public Schools spokeswoman. The Everett School District encompasses 37 square miles, and there often is a lot of variation on snow cover, she said.
On Wednesday, Everett officials feared the roads and sidewalks were just too slush-laden for safe travel for drivers and walkers, even if classes had been delayed two hours, Waggoner said. That’s why the district opted to shut down classes all day.
Snohomish County communities generally aren’t as well-equipped to tackle snow as places that routinely get dumped on during winter. Drivers in other places are often better equipped and more experienced in sloppy conditions, Waggoner said. She used to work in a Montana community where school was never canceled — even for 8 feet of snow.
“They have the equipment and most people drive vehicles that can manage,” Waggoner said. “We don’t have the heavy duty snow cutters and monster blades.”
Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com
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