What weather events does it take to close schools in your part of Oregon? (Portland: home, school districts)

[VulcanRabbi]

What weather events does it take to close school in your area and how good are they at communication when foul weather is at play? Does your school wait till the last minute or even try to stay open and wind up regretting it with a massive storm afterwards (besides the weather). What's the worst weather communication breakdown your school ever had?

[Parnassia]

When I lived in OR the weather that resulted in school closures/delayed starts were silver thaws or heavy snowfall. What the specifics were seemed to depend on which school district was involved. Conditions in one district might not trigger a closure, but the same conditions in another district might.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by VulcanRabbi

What weather events does it take to close school in your area and how good are they at communication when foul weather is at play? Does your school wait till the last minute or even try to stay open and wind up regretting it with a massive storm afterwards (besides the weather). What's the worst weather communication breakdown your school ever had?

It was my experience in the Salem district that they waited until the last minute to decide whether school would be open or closed. I don't recall any "communication breakdowns."

[Nell Plotts]

Snow more than a couple of inches. I live in the west hills so Ainsworth, Hillside, Chapman, and West Sylvan have access issues during snow events.

[texasdiver]

It is mainly about driving conditions not snow depth. Freezing rain is actually far worse than snow.

You have to remember that the typical school district has large numbers of student drivers zooming back and forth to HS in cars that may have marginal tires for snow at best, plus hundreds of kids out walking on icy roads. And many school districts also have high elevation rural sections of the district where driving may be way worse than in the lower areas.

The last thing any school district wants to deal with is a human death toll because they decided to keep schools open and HS kids crashed and died getting to school on icy roads with bald tires that they had no business driving on.

I expect many school districts are actually going to to be even more cautious these days because most have virtual or remote teaching options available due to the pandemic that didn't exist prior to 2020. So schools can announce that tomorrow is a "remote-only" day due to weather and treat it as a regular school day since most kids have school-issued Chromebooks and such and can just get their homework and assignments online for the day. That way they can take a weather day without actually taking a weather day and having to add to the school year.

[karlsch]

In Baker City, the weather has to be very bad before school is canceled. Compared to the Willamette Valley, where I used to live, the people and vehicles in Northeast Oregon are better prepared to handle bad winter weather. There is probably also a different mindset.

[Silverfall]

In the Salem-Keizer school district, they are supposed to call it before 5am and then parents get a call/text/email through the system. That system worked in the years my kids were in school. I know they recently had a mishap as they called it much later than they were supposed to and kids were standing waiting for buses, etc. That was pretty bad.

Snow and ice are the reasons they call a cancellation or a delay and it is always about bus/driving safety.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

In the Salem-Keizer school district, they are supposed to call it before 5am and then parents get a call/text/email through the system. That system worked in the years my kids were in school. I know they recently had a mishap as they called it much later than they were supposed to and kids were standing waiting for buses, etc. That was pretty bad.

Snow and ice are the reasons they call a cancellation or a delay and it is always about bus/driving safety.

I remember that happening here in Coos Bay a couple years ago. The road conditions deteriorated after 5AM. Most of the school busses ended up returning to the garage, before picking up any students. Unfortunately one student being driven to school by their a parent ended up killed in a car crash. It was a mess and they dismissed all student's later that morning.

If they were smart, any accumulation of snow or ice on the roads should be grounds to close the schools. It only happens a few days a year anyway.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

......If they were smart, any accumulation of snow or ice on the roads should be grounds to close the schools. It only happens a few days a year anyway.

Spoken like someone who lives on the coast where it rarely gets below freezing. You are advocating that the schools east of The Cascades be closed most of December, January, February, March, and parts of November and April.


This is a good illustration of why the progressives in Portland cause so many problems for the rest of the state. They are completely unaware of what their laws do to the rest of the state. If it suits Portland then is is perfect for everyone else and they will pass laws to make it so.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

Spoken like someone who lives on the coast where it rarely gets below freezing. You are advocating that the schools east of The Cascades be closed most of December, January, February, March, and parts of November and April.


This is a good illustration of why the progressives in Portland cause so many problems for the rest of the state. They are completely unaware of what their laws do to the rest of the state. If it suits Portland then is is perfect for everyone else and they will pass laws to make it so.

Yes, I'm talking about the areas I'm familiar with. The good thing about Western Oregon is that you can stay home the few days it snows. That is obviously not an option in the Rocky Mountains or the Midwest.