CHESAPEAKE, Va. — When it comes to a snow day, the decision of school versus no school can be a tough one, but for the decision makers at Chesapeake Public Schools, it all comes down to safety.
I spoke with Dr. David Benson, the Director of Transportation, and Paul Wilson, the Director of Student Support Services with Chesapeake Public Schools.
Wilson told me, “What's great about Chesapeake is that the communication is open. And the dialogue is based upon the facts that are before us.”
And when winter weather threatens, that dialogue and data collection starts as early as two in the morning.
“I have members of my staff that go out and start riding through neighborhoods throughout Chesapeake," said Dr. Benson. "We're checking bridges, we're checking overpasses, just to try to make a determination if there is any frozen precipitation if it's starting to accumulate on the roads.”
The transportation team is also in conversation with neighboring school divisions and local police departments.
“We can use all the data that we've collected and make the best decision or best recommendation possible to our superintendent, who ultimately makes the final decision as to whether or not we're going to close, we're going to be delayed, or we're going to open as usual," said Dr. Benson.
With the expansion of virtual learning, the idea of a traditional snow day has become a thing of the past.
“We tell our students to take their Chromebooks home to be prepared, because there is some asynchronous learning that can take place right from home. And so the learning doesn't have to stop, even if our schools are closed for the day," Wilson told me.
As we know, schools provide more than just education. Missing a day of school may also mean missing a meal.
"Sometimes, these same buses that we use to transport students become hubs to allow students to be able to get a meal or to have those comforts that they're used to having when they're in school," said Wilson.
School administrators tell me it is one of the most difficult decisions they have to make. But it always goes back to what's the safest option for the kids. Wilson echoes that mindset, “We would rather have a safe student and safe staff member and miss it on a day like this, than to go the other way and have something go wrong.”
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