City Newspaper Archives - 2/2007
SCHOOLS: The worst job? Calling snow days
Published by Tim Louis Macaluso on Feb 13, 2007
How do you alert 34,000 students about a snow day? You start early.
By the time most of us see the first crawls across the bottom of our TV screens listing school closings, the Rochester school district's Michael Robinson and Barbara Jarzyniecki have been up for hours, accessing weather conditions. They start between 9 and midnight the night before and compare notes at 2 and 3 in the morning.
"We are usually not as concerned about road conditions as we are about sidewalks," says Robinson. "If the city hasn't cleared the sidewalks, students will tend to walk out in the street."
About 22,000 students walk to city schools, and another 11,000 take the bus. If the wind chill drops below minus 10, it's likely the district will close. But events such as testing and school activities also have to be considered.
"Closing is an agonizing decision," says Robinson, "and I would rather err on not closing, because so many of our children depend on us for hot meals. And most of our parents work, so it means someone has to arrange for child care for those kids."
Superintendent Manuel Rivera is called before 3:45 a.m. And before he decides to close schools, he usually does his own check of the weather, walking around outside and talking to a local meteorologist, who advises him how the storm is progressing.
"He makes the final decision," says Jarzyniecki, "and then I begin calling the media."
"We have to start early," says Robinson, "because we have staff, including bus drivers, who are coming in from the suburbs and some of the rural areas. By 5 a.m., it is usually too late to close, because people are already heading in."
Article Photos
School District administrator Michael Robinson helps keep an eye on the weather. Credit: Max Seifert
