District 214 Superintendent Explains Reasons for Reopening Schools Thursday

Township High School District 214 was among a handful of suburban school districts that decided to open Thursday while most others closed due to cold temperatures in the forecast.

• District 214 Schools Reopen Thursday

In a letter posted Thursday on the school district’s website, Superintendent David Schuler explained the reasons behind the district’s decision to close.

The full letter is posted below:

Good Afternoon.

I thought it was important to share with you some information regarding why our schools are open today when many schools in the region are closed.

When I arrived in the district as superintendent 10 years ago, our practice had been that we didn’t consider canceling classes unless there was a sustained wind chill or “feels like” temperature of -30 degrees. About seven years ago, we modified that practice to allow us to close school when the wind chill or “feels like” temperature wasn’t quite so intense, bearing in mind there may be extenuating circumstances if snow is predicted, roads are icy or it is supposed to get colder during the school day.

That protocol has served us well. Most area school districts followed a similar practice, and we have not previously received significantly negative feedback from parents, staff or students. In a typical winter, we cancel classes about two times due to cold weather.

I am not opposed to re-examining our current cold-weather practice, but I do not think it is prudent to change without knowing the implications of doing so.

In District 214, we have four emergency days built into our calendar. Changing our protocol to allow for closing at even less intense wind chills could have a significant impact on the number of days we need to close, with the potential impact of going to school on Saturdays or into late June.

Given this week’s weather, changing protocol could have meant canceling school three days in a row right before finals and using three of our four emergency days before January 9. I was not comfortable making the decision to change our long-standing practice without a comprehensive review.

When we were evaluating canceling school for Wednesday, all five of the forecast models we use had the wind chill or “feels like” temperature well below our threshold. Subsequently, we made our decision to close. In looking at today’s forecast, four of the five forecasts on which we rely had a sustained wind chill or “feels like” temperature that was warmer than our protocol calls for at 6 a.m. The temperature was forecasted to remain fairly steady until 10:00 a.m., when we were scheduled to see a warm-up. We consistently monitored the five forecasts, knowing we could make changes if necessary. However, the forecasts stayed very consistent from about 3:00 p.m. yesterday through early this morning. Additionally, our Thursday late start meant many students were traveling to school later than usual. Consequently, we are open today (Thursday).

I acknowledge that other school districts made the decision to close. They may have changed their threshold for canceling classes or relied on a different forecast. That is up to their discretion. I did not think today’s forecasted temperatures necessitated modifying our past practice, which has served us well over the years.

It should be noted we are not the only school district open. Stevenson, Niles, New Trier and Evanston are several of the other schools are open today in our area.

I know that when the weather gets cold there is much concern for students. We share that concern. We work to balance priorities of safety and education, and we don’t take decisions like this lightly or make them hastily or in isolation.

You may or may not agree with our decision to remain open today, but I felt it was important to share this information with you. We received a great deal of feedback on social media over the last two days, which we read and considered carefully. We will continue to review our protocols for canceling school due to weather conditions, but will do so by considering both the safety of students and the potential impact and repercussions school closings may have on our academic calendar and programs.

Thank you,

Dr. David Schuler

Superintendent