Students desire easier criteria for snow days

by Eric Sese

Staff Writer

The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Production course.

The first school snow days occurred in the first week of February. As of February 14, a decent amount of snow still remains throughout the Bradley campus. Photo by Eric Sese (9).

Within the educational community, there are high hopes for snow days. When the weather drops and snow arrives, anticipation for a snow day is high. But much to the student body’s disappointment, it rarely materializes. Many students are sharing their dissatisfaction with the school’s supposedly high standards for a snow day. There have been many instances of snow which students have deemed appropriate to call off school. So what should constitute a snow day and is the current standard too strict?

Typically, the hopes for a snow day materialize once a substantial amount of snow is forecast. Alex Yabroff (10) says, “I think that a temperature below five degrees and at least three inches of snow should cancel school.” On the rare occasion that it rains, the projection of ice only raises hopes. A.J. Barkheimer (9) suggests that “ice on the roads” is enough to call off school. Although ice can easily dissolve in some conditions, Bradley is in the middle of nowhere, which could generate many inches of ice.

Some students are concerned about the safety of winter weather which would warrant a snow day. J.J. Rivero (9) believes that “ if it’s under 10°, then we shouldn’t have school. That would be way too low.” A wind chill above 32° is typically considered safe to be around. Anything below that is usually risky. Hailee Maynard (10) thinks that “two inches of snow is dangerous for students who can drive well.” Many students begin driving around their sophomore or junior year. With half the student population driving, winter weather can prove troubling to some.

While some requirements provided by students may be far-fetched, Mrs. Baker, a physical science teacher, believes that “two inches [of snow], maybe 0.25 inches of ice, would have [her] not going to school.” She elaborates, “Anything on the road that could cause students, staff, buses, to get in an accident; no school.” The dangers of driving in the snow and ice should always be a deciding factor for a snow day.

Setting deciding factors to call off school because of snow or other instances of inclement weather may be complicated, but Principal Warfield says, “it isn’t necessarily about the criteria.” While the popular belief is that a single piece of data could call off an entire school day, Mr. Warfield explains, “one of the bigger things is the timing of the weather, and when those things happen.” A good example of this scenario would be the first week of February 2022, when school was canceled due to snow and rain simultaneously falling. If Hilliard City Schools or the City of Hilliard can’t get staff or students on the roads and in school safely and on time, it can make things difficult.

Although many students are eager for snow days, it is easy to ignore the importance of school and education. There is nothing more important than the educational system and the benefits it has to offer.