Snow news not always good news

For many children, the school closures caused by snow this week were cause for celebration.

The weather was less fun for Edmonds School District work crews slipping around on icy roads at 3 a.m. to test conditions. That’s just one of many steps district staff take to decide on, then declare, a snow day.

For example, work crews discovered the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 29 that while roads to some schools were passable, there were others in the Brier, Evergreen, Terrace, Madrona and Woodway areas which couldn’t safely handle bus, car or pedestrian traffic. Wednesday was the third day that school was closed in the district. Several other local school districts had been closed for three days as well.

The decision to close school rests with the superintendent.

“I will not knowingly make a decision which puts any students or adults at risk of injury or death, regardless of how unpopular that decision may be with others,” said superintendent Nick Brossoit in a statement. “I am sorry for the inconvenience a school closure creates; still, I would rather have people upset with me than have any injury or loss of life.”

While the idea of having people walk to school is noble, there are handicapped students and adults for whom this is not feasible, he added.

As for make-up days, two days are already designated for snow make up: June 21-22. Those two days are already built into the calendar for possible closures and simply extend the school year by two days.

The exact make-up date of Wednesday’s snow day will have to be negotiated, as the law requires, with all labor associations. Ayn other make-up days would have to be negotiated as well.

With more snow predicted after The Enterprise deadline, it was unclear if school would have to be closed Thursday, Nov. 30, school officials said.

“Here it is only November and it causes us to wonder if we will have much more of this, as winter is only just getting started,” Brossoit said.