Suburbs

The overnight snowstorm that blanketed the area was preceded by days of people wondering whether school districts would cancel classes on Friday.

Of course, the inclement weather led to other closings from churches to businesses to city halls across Shelby County. But the closings that draw the most anticipation are schools.

Students wondering if they get a day off, even though they just returned from winter break earlier in the week. Parents wondering if they have to figure out a way to get children to school or whether the adults had to make arrangements for someone to keep the students because the adults had to go to work.

We have provided, as always, a list of the public school cancellations from Arlington to Memphis and south to Collierville. Everyone wants to know that. But what goes into making that declaration?

Reporters Abigail Warren and Michael Waddell talked to those in the suburbs, and Jody Callahan touched base with some private schools as we tried to drill down into the factors that go into the consideration.

As you might expect, there is more to it than just walking out to the driveway and if the superintendent slips down, school is closed. If not, it is still up for debate.

What we did find is that schools have a lot to consider and – as you might expect – the factors weighed in the decision are many. Be assured, the school leaders spend a lot of time wringing their hands of which way to lean. The goal is to decide what is best for students with a side dish of wondering if staying home means issues for parents who need to get to work.

The major stuff everyone probably realizes, such as street conditions and whether students can get to campus, either from their parents make the trek or inexperienced teenage drivers learning it firsthand through slightly tested experience. We shed light on how the district leaders discuss the situation with each other. How they monitor forecasts and other information on the storms. The communication with the families once the decision is made is much more extensive today.

While we touched on a number of issues, we didn’t even really delve into things like bus routes and the lag time needed to make sure they can run their routes. Or for that matter even get out of the bus parking lot.

Several schools noted that it wasn’t just whether students could reach campus, it was their safety after arrival. Is the parking lot cleared and the walkway sans snow so students don’t have a treacherous trek even getting into buildings?

“It’s really more about ice than snow,” Albert Throckmorton, head of St. Mary’s Episcopal Schools, said. “We look to see if our sidewalks are accessible. Car accidents and then slip-and-falls are our two biggest concerns.”

Then there is the timing of making a decision.

“You don’t want to do it prematurely, and you don’t want to do it too late,” David Stephens, superintendent of the Bartlett district, said. “But the last thing you want to do is call school off, and then you wake up and it’s a nice, sunny day the next day.”

As the clock crept past midnight into Friday morning, a look outside showed bigger flakes drifting through the illumination of the streetlights. Roads were getting wet since the temperature was still hovering at the 32-degree freezing mark. But they were dropping.

Schools had already decided Thursday afternoon that the prediction was dire enough to cancel classes.

And the overnight accumulation was enough to prove them right. - Suburbs editor Clay Bailey

We hope you enjoy reading the latest news from our suburban reporters. If you’re a Daily Memphian subscriber, we appreciate your support. If not, please sign up for unlimited access to all of our local news coverage.