1. People are too sue happy anymore, the school system barely has enough around here to keep a float and pay qualified teachers. 1 law suit, would crumble them. This is a never ending circle... you get state money base off test results, if you don't have money to pay the quality teachers you don't get those results, don't get the results you get bottom tier of the money, bottom tier money don't pay for the good teachers! So on and so on.... kids need to be in school to learn to get those results... but can't because your always on egg shells just incase little Johnnie gets hurt on the bus because it slid off into the ditch. Mom and dad don't work and just found an easy pay day because they knew there was a danger and should have called off school. Broken system!

2. We have built in days when they make the schedule that we ARE GOING TO MISS! One way or the other. I think 10. If you don't use them your going to school extra/working. And you know they aren't going to miss out of the freebies. Take those out make the teachers and kids make up what they miss through the summer like the old days and you'll change that mentality of a flurry and you call of snow, no one wants to work on summer break.

My wife works in the school system as a nurse, and things drive me nuts that she comes home and says.

Ex. We missed school all this week, dusting of snow however the school superintendent got together and said if there is a dusting we are calling it off, because the flu is going around so bad give kids a chance to be apart. And if you miss days for weather don't have to make them up, but if it's because of sickness you will.... well they have a policy for sickness you call it off if attendance rate falls below 60 percent I believe. Why are they not following their own policy? What will happen, will be just like the beginning of school you can separate them, but when they get together for the 1st time again it will run rapid for a month, you start it all over again instead of just letting the kids pass it around and slowly kill the virus with immune systems.

Could say pay the janitors more money get better help and they will clean better and sanitize better and help with sickness, but education especially rural don't have any money. Hopefully Trump finds all this wasted money and puts it to a good cause like education system!! Our kids need it!

Good post salemtrapper. Very true statements there. Many parts of the system are broken and this creates a vicious cycle, as you mentioned.

I guess regarding school closures and delayed starts, a lot of it comes down to geographic location of the school and how logistics are set up to deal with weather. 2'' of snow in Florida would shut schools down for a day or two. If we shut schools down here for 2'' of snow, we would likely only have school a day or two a week for December-March. Heck, we've had -30 to degree windchills here all week and everything continues as normal. Many districts in the southern U.S. would certainly be closing due to frozen pipes, lack of heating ability, etc. Alaskans would laugh and put a sweater over their t-shirt before leaving the house. It's all relative.

I've seen kids in Colebrook NH...standing for the Bus at -35 degrees ..but

That was back in the early 90's

Yep, our district cut off is typically -50 windchill before they delay or cancel school. Recess, kids go outside until -10 windchill.

You Canadians are a much more Hardy bunch than what we are growing up here in the States.

I’m not in Saskatoon, I’m about as far north of there as Boston is away from New York City. In all my years there’s never been a cancellation. There has been once this year where the roads were so bad after a storm some buses couldn’t run but school is still on. Also if the temp hits -40F the bus drivers won’t run but that’s the extent.

Hindsight is 20/20.