How cold is too cold...

[Matt K]

... for school?

I don't know what's going on with my school district. It's the same one I went to as a kid, and we almost never had "snow days." Fast-forward to 2025, and my little guy has had three hours of school since December 17th. (Yes, three hours of school in the last 30 days. By Tuesday, that will be three hours of school over 35 days, a whopping .3% of the last month of possible weekdays has been spent on instruction.)

And I would get it if this was a particularly bad winter. When I was a kid, one or maybe two of these days would have been snow days (we received like 4" of accumulation in one day, which isn't nothing, but also... isn't a lot?).

The rest of the days have been because it was "too cold." I'm looking at my thermometer right now, and it's 21F. (-6C for those who aren't used to freedom units ). That's essentially been the reason for 8/9 of the cancellations because the roads are not only fine but have neither snow nor ice on them and, in many spots, are actually totally dry. I don't even live in an area of the Deep South! This is totally typical weather here!

How cold does it have to be to cancel school where you are? My wife is from Russia and is perplexed that schools can close for temperature alone!

[Mr412]

In these days where every place claims to be short-handed, on any given day - perhaps without advance notice, school districts have to factor in a lack of bus drivers not out driving routes. This could result in a situation that keeps youngsters waiting out in the cold for an undue amount of time. So how cold is cold? Factor temperature with wind velocity and potential undue wait time at the bus stop. Oh, and lawyers.

[dwcarder]

Our school district closes if the windchill is < -25F because a large number of kids walk to school.

Where I grew up, the main issue would be getting the busses to start. Sometimes there would be an hour or two delay as I don't think they all had block heaters.

[ghmerrill]

My wife and I were just remarking on this a couple of days ago. We're from the north (though now 38 years in the South -- about 30 miles S. of Durham and 30 mi W. of Raleigh) and have memories both of ourselves and our children going to school in the winter.

Around here there's been a real escalation of closing schools for "weather related" reasons (including rain) -- usually based on predictions that almost always are inaccurate and excessively dismal. The preponderance of busing introduces a real complication because I think you wouldn't want most of those drivers driving in anything less than ideal conditions. It's not like the old days with generally competent and skilled drivers.

I do remember our kids (here in the South) from elementary/middle through high school taking a bus ride to/from school each morning (around 30-45 minutes), and the number of cancellations for bad weather days never approached what we're seeing now. It also seems to me that many of the schools (especially in the larger metropolitan areas) have an added motivation to cancel classes if they can get away with it: I suspect they save money on non-school days in various ways, and budgets are often a mess around here.

I understand where your wife is coming from (in more ways than one). When I was in college (East central NY State), the school cancelled classes ONE day in the four years I was there (and that wasn't for weather reasons!). This was with winter temperatures consistently below freezing, and for periods of 20 below zero (F). The public schools in that area were pretty much the same. Classes might be cancelled because of genuine transportation issues (impassable snow), but even that was rare. I don't recall -- during my own years in primary/middle/high school in upstate NY -- classes ever being cancelled because of temperature. I walked to school from Kindergarten through high school. Up hill both ways, in the snow.

I'm puzzled by the rise in weather-related school closings over the past (maybe 10?) years. But I'm skeptical that it's primarily safety related.

[harrisonreed]

In the 90's, in Chicopee MA, I remember watching the snow fall in the evening and being hopeful that school would close the next day. Within the first hour, HUGE trucks with sand and plows would be going in convoys through the streets. Even if 12" fell ... I would have school the next day.

I think I had one snow day while I lived there. It wasn't until I moved to the much more rural Belchertown MA that we would have maybe one snow day per year, on the days where we got 12". It was tougher there with the really long driveways.

It never had anything to do with the temperature.

[Burgerbob]

The average temperature at my undergrad in 2010 for January and February combined was... 17 degrees. The average, not the average of the low. It was cold. It was around that time I decided I would never live in the cold again.

No classes were cancelled at any point. They even said to limit time outdoors, to avoid lung damage.

[harrisonreed]

Meanwhile in the present day, schools in Kansas closed for a week over 12 wimpy inches of snow. Kids are not only not getting their lessons, but they are also learning that when the going gets tough you just quit and stay home. Yikes

[Burgerbob]

In most school districts now, they just do remote school on these days. They aren't fully off.

[Matt K]

Around here there's been a real escalation of closing schools for "weather related" reasons (including rain) -- usually based on predictions that almost always are inaccurate and excessively dismal.

lmao what, RAIN days? I'm guessing that's for prospective flooding?

I'm puzzled by the rise in weather-related school closings over the past (maybe 10?) years. But I'm skeptical that it's primarily safety related.

Everyone here is saying safety. The roads are CLEAR HERE! And like, okay, fine, yes, we want our children to be safe. I live in a state that predictably has somewhat cold winters with a moderate amount of precipitation. If safety is truly paramount, make the year start in mid-March and go to mid-December!

In most school districts now, they just do remote school on these days. They aren't fully off.

That's the problem I'm running into now. This is fine and probably ideal for older students. I would have killed for that as a high schooler - I was always able to get my work done in maybe an hour by the time I was in high school. But for pre k and kindergarten they basically say "Yeah that sucks you have a kid who has a developmental delay, we'll try... a little... to get them the minimum number of hours of instruction per year but if not, we'll just override whatever our goal is at the end of the year. Sucks to be special needs!"

[ghmerrill]

lmao what, RAIN days? I'm guessing that's for prospective flooding?

Some of it is a genuine concern, at times, for genuine flooding.

But some of it is simply water on the roads. A lot of people around here get pretty dangerous if driving in other than clear and dry conditions. Speed-related hydroplaning, following too close, etc. Also, I suspect there's a lack of confidence in the school bus drivers. Recent events indicate this concern is not misplaced.

That's the problem I'm running into now. This is fine and probably ideal for older students. I would have killed for that as a high schooler - I was always able to get my work done in maybe an hour by the time I was in high school. But for pre k and kindergarten they basically say "Yeah that sucks you have a kid who has a developmental delay, we'll try... a little... to get them the minimum number of hours of instruction per year but if not, we'll just override whatever our goal is at the end of the year. Sucks to be special needs!"

Never mind the broader impact this has on parents who are working couples and whose companies have not closed work for the day -- and being told, the night before, that school will be closed tomorrow. Or the ever-popular 2- or 4-hour delay to school opening.

[JohnL]

It also seems to me that many of the schools (especially in the larger metropolitan areas) have an added motivation to cancel classes if they can get away with it: I suspect they save money on non-school days in various ways, and budgets are often a mess around here.

Do they still tack on make-up days at the end of they year? Here in California, a significant chunk of school funding is tied to Average Daily Attendance (not enrollment, attendance - actual bodies in seats). This has led districts to take a hard look at absence patterns and adjust their calendars to be closed on days when absence rates are high. Case in point: schools used to be open Monday thru Wednesday of Thanksgiving week; now they're closed the whole week (though those days are just tacked on elsewhere in the school year.

[ghmerrill]

Do they still tack on make-up days at the end of they year?

Yes. They do have make-up days, but I'm not sure exactly how that works. For example, does the "minimum number of mandated days" (after cancelled days and make-up days) end up being the same (or less) than how many days there would have been in the school year without cancellations? I suspect not, but I haven't looked at the numbers.

I also don't know how cancelled days of school compare among public, private, and charter schools. Even among public schools, not all of them actually cancel the same days or for the same time periods. School systems here are basically county fiefdoms.

[JohnL]

Yes. They do have make-up days, but I'm not sure exactly how that works. For example, does the "minimum number of mandated days" (after cancelled days and make-up days) end up being the same (or less) than how many days there would have been in the school year without cancellations? I suspect not, but I haven't looked at the numbers.

If it's like it is here, there's a minimum requirement of "instructional minutes" to make up a school year (there was a fiasco a few years back one district did the math wrong and had to bring kids back over the summer).

After thinking about it for a while, an idea occurred to me: I wonder if they've crunched the numbers and found that students from certain disadvantaged subgroups are more likely to miss school on cold/wet days than the general population?

[ghmerrill]

After thinking about it for a while, an idea occurred to me: I wonder if they've crunched the numbers and found that students from certain disadvantaged subgroups are more likely to miss school on cold/wet days than the general population?

Given the total fiasco/scandal that the Durham school system has gone through the past few years, I don't think that they (at least) are intellectually up to such an approach.

[Bach5G]

When I was a kid in Saskatchewan …

You know the rest.

[ghmerrill]

Yeah. It includes outdoor hockey, eh?

[Matt K]

Problem for us is they are "supposed" to move days to the end of the calendar... but they have an out where they can just say "oops weather, we'll do less than the minimum this year".

[ghmerrill]

Aha! Just as I suspected!! For most people, of course, "less than the minimum" is a thorny concept to get your head around.

[Bach5G]

Yeah. It includes outdoor hockey, eh?

A Saskatchewan boy’s childhood: walking home at night in the dark from the rink (probably about 5:30 pm, pitch dark MK, and freezing cold), so cold that I’m crying, convinced that if my parents really loved me they’d have come and picked me up like the other parents and their kids (TBF, not many kids got rides). I would have been about 9.

It got COLD on the prairies. The school’s big concession was not making us go outside for recess but it had to be about 30 below (F) before that happened.

[Posaunus]

... for school?

How cold does it have to be to cancel school where you are? My wife is from Russia and is perplexed that schools can close for temperature alone!

It's not an issue where we now reside (balmy, arid Southern California) - but we have lived for 5 years each in Vermont (one January the temperature never rose above 0°F [-18C] the entire month) and Colorado at 8000 ft (2400 M) elevation, where we could get 3-4 feet [>1 m] of snow. We coped. If they had canceled school for low temperatures or a little precipitation, our children never would have been educated. Time for you wimps to man up!

[Wilktone]

Where do you live, Matt?

Here in western NC we lost basically a month after Hurricane Helene slammed into us. The state does mandate a certain number of instructional hours each school year, but there’s something built into that law that states we don’t need to make up due to natural disasters, so our students are going to be even further behind after still straying to catch up from Covid.

We get “asynchronous learning days” for weather that makes me chuckle sometimes, but in the school district’s defense, the mountains make it difficult sometimes to predict how much snow we might get. The city doesn’t have the snow removal equipment and amount of salt that northern cities have too. And while it may be dry and safe at my house, school employees and students may live in the higher altitudes and the weather can be quite different nearby.

To complicate things further, some of my young students may not have very warm winter jackets and such. The district doesn’t want them waiting for the bus in subzero temperatures. You can’t just think about your children and their school’s demographics, disadvantaged students from low SEC may also not have warm clothes. Your school district may be taking that into account.

Forecast here is for very cold weather next Monday (already a day off for MLK Day) and Tuesday’s it will be interesting to see what they decide to do on Tuesday.

Dave

[baBposaune]

The admins are just trying to avoid having kids stick their tongues on the flagpole.

[Doug Elliott]

Inquiring minds want to know... does anybody know someone who actually did that? And what was the outcome?

[CalgaryTbone]

Where I live, temps. below 0 Fahrenheit are common, and 40 below (where Fahrenheit and Celsius meet briefly), is a regular occurrence. They almost never cancel the schools or other events for the cold - maybe when there's a strong wind with that kind of air temperature. Not that big a deal if you dress for it, and don't linger outside.

Jim Scott

[Matt K]

Where do you live, Matt?
...
To complicate things further, some of my young students may not have very warm winter jackets and such. The district doesn’t want them waiting for the bus in subzero temperatures. You can’t just think about your children and their school’s demographics, disadvantaged students from low SEC may also not have warm clothes. Your school district may be taking that into account.

Forecast here is for very cold weather next Monday (already a day off for MLK Day) and Tuesday’s it will be interesting to see what they decide to do on Tuesday.

Dave

Northern West Virginia. Everyone here basically expects it to be cold. The daily mean is 32F (0C) and the mean daily minimum is 24F (-4C), with a mean min of 2F (-16C). If our district didn't want people waiting in subzero temperatures they are planning to fail by even scheduling school during January and February, and really even a good bit of March.

This county in particular doesn't have the same demographics as other counties: the more "urban" parts of the county where the infrastructure is best have a touch more of the disadvantaged students, but they're fairly even distributed between the "urban" (nothing here is urban) and the more rural parts of the county. In fact, for many students, the only way to get a reasonable amount of caloric intake is through the school breakfast and lunch programs and many of those students are the ones who would find it the easiest to get to school because the infrastructure supports the denser, central part of the county the most.

Not to mention the kicker here... remember, the school has a minimum number of hours... except when they say they don't. So cancelling for everyone almost certainly at this point (we plan for 5 days and are already at 8) means less net days of instruction for everyone, rather than less net days of instruction for only the subset of the population who can't get to school for roads, cold, etc.

We're getting the polar vortex next week. If we didn't have school this week with NO PRECIPITATION and 20F, there's no way we're having school next week where I'm seeing a HIGH of 13F, 14F, and 20F, respectively, on Tuesday onward. If they keep this up, and assuming that the weather is perfect on the 27th, that will mean that my kid will have had three hours of school in 39 days.

Where I live, temps. below 0 Fahrenheit are common, and 40 below (where Fahrenheit and Celsius meet briefly), is a regular occurrence. They almost never cancel the schools or other events for the cold - maybe when there's a strong wind with that kind of air temperature. Not that big a deal if you dress for it, and don't linger outside.

That's what my wife is used to. She's from a part of Russia where everyone in her school walks to and from school. The daily high is typically around 5F, and she had never had a school cancellation!

[ghmerrill]

Inquiring minds want to know... does anybody know someone who actually did that? And what was the outcome?

Memory is hazy, but I'm sure I've seen something similar. The outcome can range from extremely unpleasant to no problem at all. The accepted technique is to get some water (preferably warm), and pour it on the flesh/metal area -- melting the ice weld. Or otherwise heat the metal just enough to unfreeze that connection. But I'm sure everyone who's grown up in northern climates is aware of this.

[Kbiggs]

I live in SW Washington, near Portland OR. It’s fairly temperate. We get warm summers with alternating mid-70’s to upper 90’s, occasionally it will go over 100. In winter, it’s rarely below 20 degrees until you reach the foothills of the Cascades, or you head east into the Columbia Gorge where you get ice. People around here don’t know how to drive in snow, so yes—it’s a safety issue.

Whenever it snows in Portland or Vancouver, schools are on a “delayed schedule,” which usually means no classes until 10 or 11. Depending on the school district, that can mean that school starts at 10 or 11 with a compressed schedule and you attend all classes, and sometimes that means you only attend 3rd through 7th periods, for example.

***

Did anyone else grow up on Southern California in the 70’s? I remember staying indoors at school, and sometimes even staying home, due to smog days. The TV weather reports often had Smog Alert days where they warned people with asthma, COPD, etc., to stay indoors. And remember—this was a time when lots of people still smoked inside their homes.

[tbdana]

Did anyone else grow up on Southern California in the 70’s? I remember staying indoors at school, and sometimes even staying home, due to smog days. The TV weather reports often had Smog Alert days where they warned people with asthma, COPD, etc., to stay indoors. And remember—this was a time when lots of people still smoked inside their homes.

Yup. I did. And I remember smog days, where P.E. and athletics were cancelled and indoor activities were done instead. I remember the smog alerts and warnings.

We don't get enough credit for turning that around, but those bad ol' days are over (for now).

[JohnL]

Did anyone else grow up on Southern California in the 70’s? I remember staying indoors at school, and sometimes even staying home, due to smog days. The TV weather reports often had Smog Alert days where they warned people with asthma, COPD, etc., to stay indoors. And remember—this was a time when lots of people still smoked inside their homes.

Lived in various places around SoCal in the 1960's and 1970's and I remember the Smog Alerts - and the dreaded "inversion layer". We'd joke that you had to chew the air before breathing it. We lived in Redlands for while and there were still some orchards using smudge pots to keep the frost from ruining the fruit. I hate to think what cold mornings must have been like out there back in the 1950's.

The worst areas were probably the valleys (San Fernando and San Gabriel) and the Inland Empire. When we moved back down here in the mid-1980's, it was already significantly better. These days, we don't even hit the "unhealthful air for sensitive persons" threshold that often (other than when we've got big fires burning, like right now).

[BGuttman]

I grew up in New York City, where breathing the air was the equivalent of smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day. We used to smirk at SoCal, but we were every bit as dirty. But no smog alerts.

Politics Warning: I understand they will be moving the Inauguration indoors because our hothouse flower President is afraid of the cold.

[Finetales]

There was a day when I was at IU that was -40 degrees. Nothing cancelled, still had to walk to class and make sure absolutely no skin was exposed. There were a few -20 days as well, and it hung around 0 degrees often in the winter. Plenty of snow to go around as well.

If any of that had happened where I grew up (northern Virginia), every school would have been closed for a decade. The one time we ever had heavy snow there, we got a whole two feet. A normal winter day in Indiana, and pretty light for somewhere more northerly. But in those DC suburbs, we had school off the entire month of February.

[Savio]

Inquiring minds want to know... does anybody know someone who actually did that? And what was the outcome?

I have to raise my hand. I have done it. When I was in first class in school. About 55 years ago. And I can tell it was not a pleasant experience. Never forget it. The older guy's at school tricked me. The tongue actually is stuck. But realised after a minute when you breath at it. Don't try it!

[ghmerrill]

There was a day when I was at IU that was -40 degrees.

Just out of curiosity: -40 degrees actual or "wind chill"? -40 F would be an amazing temp in Indiana -- unless 'IU' means something else.

I'm so old school that when I think of, or mention, temperatures, there's no wind chill factored in. I don't recall when wind chill became a thing in weather reporting, but pretty late in my life.

I still remember a fairly comfortable night (when I was maybe 14?) in upstate NY on a Scout winter campout when it was -20 (actual). Two of us were in one of those fine (classic?) WWII floorless canvas "single diamond" pup tents that buttoned together from two "shelter halves", in the snow. But we did have a nice reflector pit fire going in front of it -- and pretty good sleeping bags (for that point in time), and built-up pine insulation under them. When we woke up in the morning and got clothes and boots on, we noticed that during the night everyone else had retreated into the nearby cabin. I used to love winter camping. No bugs.

[Matt K]

There was a day when I was at IU that was -40 degrees. Nothing cancelled, still had to walk to class and make sure absolutely no skin was exposed. There were a few -20 days as well, and it hung around 0 degrees often in the winter. Plenty of snow to go around as well.

If any of that had happened where I grew up (northern Virginia), every school would have been closed for a decade. The one time we ever had heavy snow there, we got a whole two feet. A normal winter day in Indiana, and pretty light for somewhere more northerly. But in those DC suburbs, we had school off the entire month of February.

Blizzard of 2003, right? I think we got 2 feet of snow in 24 hours that year in February

Just out of curiosity: -40 degrees actual or "wind chill"? -40 F would be an amazing temp in Indiana -- unless 'IU' means something else.

Probably w/ windchill. We had simialr temps, probably 2014 is the year I'm guessing. I was a student at the time too and remember that being the first time I heard of a polar vortex.

[Kbiggs]

Did anyone else grow up on Southern California in the 70’s? I remember staying indoors at school, and sometimes even staying home, due to smog days. The TV weather reports often had Smog Alert days where they warned people with asthma, COPD, etc., to stay indoors. And remember—this was a time when lots of people still smoked inside their homes.

Lived in various places around SoCal in the 1960's and 1970's and I remember the Smog Alerts - and the dreaded "inversion layer". We'd joke that you had to chew the air before breathing it. We lived in Redlands for while and there were still some orchards using smudge pots to keep the frost from ruining the fruit. I hate to think what cold mornings must have been like out there back in the 1950's.

The worst areas were probably the valleys (San Fernando and San Gabriel) and the Inland Empire. When we moved back down here in the mid-1980's, it was already significantly better. These days, we don't even hit the "unhealthful air for sensitive persons" threshold that often (other than when we've got big fires burning, like right now).

We were in Irvine (Orange County), SE of Redlands and the “Inland Empire,” so we didn’t get it quite as bad. On good days we would ride our bikes up the hill where we could see the dirty orange/brown/grey layer hanging above LA. On bad days, when the wind shifted, we would get covered with it. We could see it and smell it. It hurt to breathe, and it settled all over everything outside.

Then we moved to Humboldt County (Northern California). The paper mills smelled awful, and they were still using teepee burners for the slash.

Here in SW Washington, we occasionally get inversion layers. In rural areas—you don’t have to go very far to get away from the metropolitan areas—many people still use wood stoves. You can imagine what an inversion layer + cold air + wood stoves smells and feels like.

No wonder I was diagnosed with asthma a few years ago!

[AtomicClock]

Just out of curiosity: -40 degrees actual or "wind chill"? -40 F would be an amazing temp in Indiana -- unless 'IU' means something else.

I believe that the wind chill index is not expressed in "degrees" or "Farenheit". It's just a number; that's what "index" means.

[BrassSection]

Central PA…Back in the early 60s no delays, no cold weather cancellations. 6” on the ground and still falling, 50-50 chance of cancelling. I lived in town, I could see the elementary school from my place. Jr & Sr High about 5 blocks away until we moved a mile out of town when I started Jr High. Townies walked, out of town kids rode buses. Busses all had chains on when there was 4 or more inches on the ground, and many busses had sanders on. For you warm climate folks, sanders were pipes in front of the rear bus wheels, fed from a box of sand over the pipes as needed for traction. Dad was a Jr High teacher, I just rode to school with him once we moved out of town. Generally 8 to 12 or more inches was a cancellation. Cancellation notifications were often last minute calls, and only announced over one local radio station.

Some outer areas were prone to flooding, some cancellations or early dismissals for affected students only. Ski resort within some of the local districts, not unusual for Blue Knob student busses to arrive half hour late due to road conditions.

And yes to walking to school in deep snow. 5th grade, music lesson day. Take baritone to school. Through a 60 feet long stretch of drifting about 6” above my knees. At least the was before the uphill part!

Now: Calling for 2-4 inches tomorrow, 2 hour delay announced by noon today. Often there was no snow. Single digit temps, real or feel-like, 2 hour delay. At least no problem getting cancellation notices!

[JohnL]

I believe that the wind chill index is not expressed in "degrees" or "Farenheit". It's just a number; that's what "index" means.

Wind Chill (often called "Wind Chill Factor") is reported as a temperature.

US National Weather Service article "Understanding Wind Chill"

[ghmerrill]

I believe that the wind chill index is not expressed in "degrees" or "Farenheit". It's just a number; that's what "index" means.

Here is a typical use -- without any reference to an "index": "If the temperature is 0°F and the wind is blowing at 15 mph, the wind chill is -19°F." (From a National Weather Service site.)

There is a degree of loose and colloquial usage around these terms -- which is a primary source of my discomfort with them as genuine measures of anything.

[Finetales]

There was a day when I was at IU that was -40 degrees. Nothing cancelled, still had to walk to class and make sure absolutely no skin was exposed. There were a few -20 days as well, and it hung around 0 degrees often in the winter. Plenty of snow to go around as well.

If any of that had happened where I grew up (northern Virginia), every school would have been closed for a decade. The one time we ever had heavy snow there, we got a whole two feet. A normal winter day in Indiana, and pretty light for somewhere more northerly. But in those DC suburbs, we had school off the entire month of February.

Blizzard of 2003, right? I think we got 2 feet of snow in 24 hours that year in February

It was later than that, February 2010 I think.

Just out of curiosity: -40 degrees actual or "wind chill"? -40 F would be an amazing temp in Indiana -- unless 'IU' means something else.

Probably w/ windchill. We had simialr temps, probably 2014 is the year I'm guessing. I was a student at the time too and remember that being the first time I heard of a polar vortex.

Yep, 2014 sounds right. It was a unique day for sure, I don't remember it ever getting that cold again. Don't remember if it was with windchill or not, but there wasn't more than a light breeze when I was outside in it so I suspect it was closer to a "true" -40.

[ghmerrill]

... there wasn't more than a light breeze when I was outside in it so I suspect it was closer to a "true" -40.

That's amazing. I grew up in upstate NY, went to college in the Albany area and grad school in Rochester, and then spent about 15 years in Chicago (including the legendary blizzard of '79), and I don't recall seeing anything approaching -40. -20 was pretty common, and -30s would happen periodically. But I never spent any time in Indiana except for driving through it (sometimes in December between Rochester and St. Louis). Maybe Bloomington is far enough South to catch the Canadian lows without the tempering effect of the lake.

[Finetales]

Yeah, I don't remember it otherwise ever getting lower than the occasional -20, usually just below zero is the lowest it would get. That day was an anomaly!

[flyingcow]

Inquiring minds want to know... does anybody know someone who actually did that? And what was the outcome?

did it on a chairlift one. I don't recommend it.

[ghmerrill]

And yes to walking to school in deep snow. 5th grade, music lesson day. Take baritone to school. Through a 60 feet long stretch of drifting about 6” above my knees. At least the was before the uphill part!

I don't recall having to walk to school in deep snow (in the north, there was generally a pretty high degree of competency and efficiency in snow removal), but in the 6th grade our elementary school (3 blocks from home) was maxed out and they had to bus the 6th-graders from there in the morning to a new school, and then back in afternoon. So the routine was: walk to old school -- bus to new school -- bus back to old school -- walk home.

Except when I had a music lesson or band practice on the same day that I had basketball practice. Then it was lug alto sax to old school and onto bus -- bus to new school -- do music lesson and after-school basketball practice -- walk home (in the dark at that point, of course) lugging sax and whatever else was necessary. The "how the crow files" distance from the new school to home was a bit over a mile. The walking distance was about 2 miles -- mostly downhill or flat except for an initial uphill section.

But at least it was all on sidewalks, well lit, and generally cleared of everything but some refrozen ice in late afternoon. I seem to have a recollection that in fall and spring I skipped the bus trips and took my bike back and forth to school, with the sax tied on top of the front basket. Could my parents have picked me up and brought me home? No. My father was a Pillsbury flour salesman with a fairly large rural territory, and my mother didn't drive -- in fact, never got a driver's license until they both moved to the St. Louis area in their 50s. Those were different times.

[Mikebmiller]

All this chatter about how much tougher we had it as kids reminds me of this great Monty Python sketch.

[Posaunus]

All this chatter about how much tougher we had it as kids reminds me of this great Monty Python sketch.

I thought that this was JD Vance's life story?

[ghmerrill]

I don't know. It seems more likely that given when the Python skit was done, and the setting of it, it could be they're just providing a comedic description of the history of Ireland -- although there definitely are aspects of Appalachia that are quite similar.

[dwcarder]

Matt K., this thread jinxed it... The windchill was -30F this morning and now my kids are home for the day!

[Matt K]

Matt K., this thread jinxed it... The windchill was -30F this morning and now my kids are home for the day!

My bad


Well, for us my kid still hasn't been to school since. Today makes sense, it's 16F which is, of course, colder than any humans have ever survived for five minutes at a bus stop.

He's received 5 hours of instruction since Dec 19th. So that's... 33 days without school, for all intents and purposes. And we already called tomorrow off because it'll be like 5F. Thursday isn't looking good either. The cutoff seems to be around freezing or if there is ANY precipitation predicted. Which means that he MIGHT have his first full day back on Feb 1.

We're supposed to average 28 hours per week. We're averaging 1. Makes it hard b/c my wife and I can't take off 43 days of work in a row, so we've been tag teaming and working really odd hours to make up the deficit.

[ghmerrill]

Wll, for us my kid still hasn't been to school since. Today makes sense, it's 16F which is, of course, colder than any humans have ever survived for five minutes at a bus stop.

I'm confident that many studies have shown this to be true. Survival in that temperature range requires activities such as snow castle construction, igloo experimentation, and snowball fights. It is often overlooked that these activities can take place at bus stops and ensure survival under such adverse conditions. More studies need to be done. Funding sources are being explored.