ToClose Or Not To Close?
Officials are up at 3 a.m. to make the call.

Deborah Sederberg
The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - To close or not to close. That's a question that must be asked in the wee hours of a winter morn.

"Yes," Sharon Anderson said. She is director of transportation for the Michigan City Area Schools. "I'm out there driving the county roads at 3 in the morning, or earlier.

"I check with city and county police departments. Then I call the superintendent and he makes a decision." Anderson said Superintendent Michael Harding never seems to resent the interruption to his sleep at 4 or 5 a.m.

"He always answers right away," Anderson said.

On Tuesday, she was getting nervous about the snow predicted for Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.

The safety of the district's 7,100 students is uppermost, Anderson said.

"We always have to consider the walkers as well as the students who ride our buses," she said.

That's why schools occasionally close or open a couple of hours later than usual because of cold weather.

"We have to look at all the roads," she said. Even when all city roads leading to Joy, Knapp or Marsh are clear, county roads can be abysmal.

On Tuesday, school opened after a two-hour delay because blowing and drifting snow made county roads hazardous early in the morning.

Rich Stalbrink, director of transportation for La Porte Community School Corp., said the La Porte schools Tuesday followed a similar schedule for the same reasons.

Betsy Kohn, director of communications for MCAS and the mother of a school-age daughter, knows late starts can play havoc with family work schedules.

With a two-hour delay, she said local school corporations still receive tuition reimbursement from the state, which they would not receive if schools were closed.

"But we also want our students to get every bit of education we can give them," Kohn said.

As soon as Anderson consults with Harding, she begins to call her drivers via a calling tree.

"Then we call the media," she said. She calls local and South Bend television and radio outlets.

In addition, Kohn said, parents and students can check the MCAS Web site at www.k12.in.us. Near the top of the right column, an announcement about delays and closings is posted.



Contact Deborah Sederberg at dsederberg@ thenewsdispatch.com.