On Wednesday January 17, Seymour Community schools used up their last built in snow day due to bad weather conditions. SCSC had four built in days on the calendar in preparation for an event such as this.

Many factors go into the decision to cancel school rather than simply delay it. “Weather, forecast, timing of the predicted forecast, temperature, and road conditions when we travel are all deciding factors in whether or not school is cancelled or delayed, but the number one deciding factor is how long it will be safe to travel,” said Superintendent Dr. Robert Hooker. “Some other considerations when making decisions are things like the bus stops when sidewalks aren’t clear. You might have young kids standing near or on the road and if it’s slick, it could end badly. Another thing is the timing of the storm and how long it will take to clear all the roads…city, county, and state.”

“We always try to make the decision before six,” said Hooker. The decision is made before six because it’s typically before parents leave and everyone can plan accordingly.

“We had had everything scraped off and were planning on going to school on Monday, but the weather had other plans.”  While early release used to be a somewhat common option, school corporations have shied away from use of early release for a variety of reasons. One being that between 3,200 – 3,300 students ride buses; everyone has to be fed before leaving. Younger children could be alone at home or not even be able to get into their houses. It’s better for them to be at school and safe. Smaller corporations used to have early release, but Hooker stated that,  “We just can’t move that many people.”

Now that all of SCSC’s built in snow days have been used up, the question on everyone’s mind is whether or not everyone will have to revert to the 4:30 extended day from a few years ago. “I hope not. We had to go one hour longer for sixty days because we had missed so many days. Bottom line is no one wants to move graduation. We can always extend the year to June 1st since we only get four or five built in make up days a year. You just have to react to the weather,” explained Hooker.