Washington Court House continues snow cleanup, cancels classes again
WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, Ohio (WCMH) -- School districts in central Ohio are still facing challenges caused by the snow that fell on Sunday and Monday.
"Lots of snow, a winter wonderland, I love snow, so this is a blessing and a curse because obviously we want our kids back in school, but we have some still a few safety concerns," said Tom Bailey, superintendent of Washington Court House City Schools (WCHCS).
The city received about eight inches of snow with crews on Tuesday loading some into a dump truck to get it out of the way. Monday was a previously scheduled workday for teachers in the district but it was canceled because of the weather. Teachers nor students were in class on Tuesday.
“It’s not an easy decision. And every superintendent goes through this," Bailey said.
Safety on the roads and what students will miss out on by not being in school are factors which go into a snow day decision, according to Bailey.
He said he talks with the district's transportation supervisors on days when weather impacts road conditions. He also drives the roads himself. Many side streets still had quite a bit of snow as of Tuesday afternoon.
“I see the struggles with when we get this much snow and it's hard to get around. As a bus driver because I do a lot of driving for our district as well, I have a pretty accurate understanding of how the buses will act and react in the snow," Bailey said.
He also said at this point a remote learning day instead of a traditional snow day is not part of the equation.
“We will not make that decision until we get to five calamity days. So the first five we’re kind of going old school with the first five we take and don't worry about making up. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Obviously, in-person learning is where it's at," he said.
"If we get to that sixth day we will probably make it up at the end of the year or some other time during the year to make sure we’re getting in-person learning because we know that's most effective for our kids."
The district Tuesday afternoon announced teachers will have a workday Wednesday and the plan is for students to be back on Thursday.