Deciding a snow day: How schools make their decision

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) - With a winter storm warning in effect for Friday, how do school districts decide whether or not to stay open?

There's several factors that go into the decision to cancel school or not, and it's certainly an important one with close to 15 thousand students throughout the Kenton County school district.

"If you're still a kid at heart, you always want a snow day," says Amanda Bandura.

But canceling school is no easy call. Kenton County schools superintendent Terri Cox-Cruey says she tends to err on the side of caution if she knows there's a good amount of precipitation headed this way.

"It's going to be very difficult tomorrow because we may be forced to make a call based on what the forecast is and not necessarily what's in front of us at the moment," explains Cox-Cruey.

Kenton County has close to 170 routes from north to south, and Cox-Cruey says the decision becomes even trickier when it's dry in the morning, but the forecast calls for snow in the afternoon.

"Black ice. I mean, you don't see it, you hit a slick spot and you're done and there's so many precautions you need to take," says Bandura.

Amanda Bandura says if there's a good amount of snow or ice, it's not worth risking the life of any child.

"Even if it's just one, you don't want that one, I just wouldn't risk it," adds Bandura.

Kenton County is allowed five snow days a year. Make up days are required if there's any more. Cox-Cruey says to make the best judgment call, they have extra crews working those mornings.

"We actually have individuals with trucks that go out in the north end of the county and the south end of our county so that they're able to give me first hand information," says Cox-Cruey.

Cox-Cruey says to help with the decision, she also bounces ideas off of different superintendents throughout Northern Kentucky. She says often times parents complain that the conditions in their part of town aren't that bad, but it's important to remember they have to consider the entire county.

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