During the winter months, as snow begins to hit the ground and temperatures start to dip below zero, one of the most common things heard in the halls is talk about a snow day. Sometimes the school gets criticized for being too strict and not canceling school when it should have been, but how exactly does the district decide when to cancel?
The superintendent alone decides whether or not school will be canceled or delayed. In order to decide, the superintendent works in close coordination with the weather service in the Davenport airport. The superintendent also works very closely with neighboring districts such as North Scott, Bettendorf, and the Davenport schools to make a decision. The schools talk to each other about what they’re seeing in their district; they drive around to do some spot checks and determine whether or not it’s safe for students and buses to drive to school. Each school has their regular “hotspots” that they check for ice and other hazards. For Pleasant Valley, the district checks the roads around the school as well as the roads by Territorial Road and the junior high. In addition to the spot checks, the district is in very close conversation with the city road crews.
To determine cancellation or delay due to cold weather, there is another set of guidelines to consider. One of the guidelines, for example, is closely related to the temperature at which diesel fuel will start to gel. One false assumption that students make is that the school will take into consideration the temperature with wind chill; however, this is not the case. The school only uses the temperature without wind chill to decide, and the cold weather must persist throughout the day.
Mike Zimmer, the principal at Pleasant Valley high school, said that safety is the main factor when deciding whether or not to cancel school. “We will not put students at risk. It’s all about student safety,” Zimmer confirmed. “If there’s a situation in which the roads are too icy, it will get called.”
There are some people who say that PV is one of the strictest schools when it comes to snow days or two hour late starts, but there are also some students who think PV is doing just fine. Ramya Kumar, junior, believes PV is good at calling it only when it’s needed. “I don’t think PV is the strictest district,” Kumar said. “Although there have been some circumstances in which a late start or cancellation should’ve happened but didn’t, PV is pretty good at calling them.”
