The most common comments Lincoln Public Schools received yesterday — other than just a general plea for a snow day from students — was to let our students go home from school earlier than scheduled.
If you consider yesterday’s snowfall and the timing of the snow, our school district believes we would have made a tough situation even worse by letting out students early.
Imagine: If a decision could be made purely on forecast (and one notable local meteorologist admits they didn’t foresee the full impact of Monday’s snowfall) it might have been made at 10:30 in the morning. Then let’s pretend we dismiss all schools at noon.
Here’s what that would have meant:
- Thousands of parents and guardians and grandparents would have had to leave work or home just when the weather turned really poor (low visibility, heavy snowfall).
- Daycare places would have had to adjust schedules to find drivers to make their normal pick-ups.
- School bus drivers would have had to hurry to their bus, then out to their location and routes. Also keep in mind that some bus drivers may make two or three different pick-ups from schools at different times.
- Thousands of high school students would have been leaving school and driving just as the storm reached its full impact.
- Thousands more students of all ages would have been walking home in areas of low visibility, and to homes that may or may not have had anyone waiting for them. (Just because we send an automated phone call and email doesn’t mean they are received right away.)
- Thousands of students would not have eaten any lunch, and school lunches might be a child’s best chance at a healthy meal during the day.
Instead, as the timing worked out, students were walking and driving home when it wasn’t snowing, when visibility had improved, and on a normal schedule (albeit roads were slick).
LPS can’t always predict and plan when snow storms will start and stop. Yesterday we made the best decision we could based on the fluid forecasts available to us.
The safety of our students and staff is our top priority. Thanks for your understanding and patience.
