Why Is School Open?

At this time of year, I am often asked why is school open when it is so cold? Illinois School Code requires that each public school district provide a minimum number of days attendance for students each year. Calendars are developed in the fall and winter and generally adopted by local school boards in early spring. Each district is required to include five emergency days at the end of the calendar to be used if schools are closed due to weather or other emergencies. Calendars in our community are generally coordinated with the high school district as much as possible to avoid families to have to deal with multiple school calendars.

When the weather turns cold as it has this week, the main factor is the decision to hold school is two fold, if the schools have power and heat and the school buses are operational, school is held. Since we offer busing to 100% of our students there is no reason to close school in this incident. When there is a chance of a school closing due to weather factors most of the schools in the area collaborate on any closure decision. If our high school district closes, we will also close unless there is a serious mitigating consideration. Since many families have both parents employed, it is often safer and less disruptive to hold classes when possible rather than close and create childcare and supervision problems for parents.

I hope everyone has a warm and safe weekend and enjoys the Bears game on Sunday!