[eric.hanke]

MCAS official explains snow-day process
School system took hits for keeping buildings open Jan. 13

Deborah Sederberg
The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - As the Michigan City Area Schools transportation director, Kevin Neafie expects the job to come with its share of criticism.

"No matter what you decide," he said, "someone is going to disagree."

Neafie can take the complaints, but says his heart is with the youngsters and drivers.

The school system has taken hits for keeping children in school Tuesday, Jan. 13. Neafie said people need to better understand why and how decisions get made.

In the winter, Neafie is up and at work between 2:30 and 3 a.m. But before he gets on the road, he said, "I call some of the maintenance crews to find out how the weather is, where they are. By that time, they're already clearing parking lots and walkways."

Neafie often drives into the country, where many students live. The MCAS district covers 150 square miles, and everyone knows the sun might be shining on clear skies near in-city elementary schools, but in rural areas, parents may be looking at what appears to be a blizzard, or vice-versa.

On Jan. 13, the weather in some areas seemed to change in a matter of seconds.

Neafie called Superintendent Michael Harding to recommend a two-hour delay, and Harding concurred.

But then, Neafie said, "the heavens opened up," and some children already were on the buses and other school districts decided to close. After another conversation with Harding, the two men decided it would be safest to bring the children to school, and indeed, everyone did arrive safely.

On another recent snow day, various schools were bombarded with calls from parents who wondered if youngsters would be dismissed early. They weren't, and by the normal dismissal time, the sun was shining.

Neafie can't take credit for that outcome, he said, but it's good to remember school might be the safest place for children in a storm.

In a similar vein, he added, buses might be running a few minutes late in treacherous weather. Drivers naturally travel at a slower pace when roads are slippery or visibility is impaired.

On the way home, teachers face the added responsibility of helping young children into their winter garb, parkas, scarves, boots, all of which can cause buses to run a bit late.

Neafie reminds parents to dress children appropriately for the weather.

He also understands and appreciates parents who make a decision to keep youngsters home in the worst weather.

Several times, he has heard Assistant Superintendent Carla Iacona say, "Parents have a right to make that decision."

Betsy Kohn, MCAS director of communications, said Harding and Neafie confer about weather conditions in the wee hours of the morning. The ultimate decision, she added, falls to the superintendent.

It's laughable that individuals who are new to the area and do not even live within 50 miles of the school corporation, play a vital role in determining road conditions and whether or not to close or delay school.

Why not just come up with some criteria and a representative from each school. On days when closing schools is in question send an e-mail out to the group the night before, at least 1/2 of them should receive it, and have a conference call to discuss road conditions across the entire MCAS area (all 150 square miles of it) early that morning.

The group could include parents (sign me up), teachers, principals, and administrators each responsible for scoring a set of criteria including:

Road Conditions

Visibility

Amount of Snow (A simple gage would suffice)

Temperature

They could rate each with a scale from 1-10. 1 being normal and 10 being all hell is breaking lose.



A score could then be used to determine if closing or delaying school is necessary.

[Roger Kaputnik]

I agree that no matter what the decision, there will be complainers. A more elaborate system will make no difference in that. A 150 sq. mi. district (about the size of the Gaza Strip, by the way) is going to experience different weather in different places: A blizzard at Niemann does not mean Pine can't have sunshine. For whom is the decision made? Shouldn't it tend to the worse area? I have no complaints in how it is done; the decisions made have all seemed reasonable.