7 Day Forecast
Thanks to snowstorms and subzero temperatures, students at Lincoln Public Schools were granted four additional days off in the first two weeks of the new semester, but now school officials are hoping the snow day trend is finally over.
While this wasn’t the start to the new year Superintendent Paul Gausman had planned on, the district was prepared for a situation such as this, he said.
At the start of each school year, time is built into the schedule to allow for snow days or other emergency closures. This is done by exceeding the minimum number of instructional hours required by the Nebraska Department of Education.
At the elementary and middle school levels, students are required to have 1,032 hours of instructional time and high school students must have 1,080.
After the recent snowstorms, elementary students have enough extra time built in to cover approximately one more snow day, middle school students have enough for 10 days and high school students have enough for five days.
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LPS does not utilize delayed starts, early outs or virtual learning for weather.
If the district were to run out of snow days, officials would look at various solutions, including adjusting daily schedules and early release days, and would not tack days on at the end of the year to make up lost time unless absolutely necessary, Gausman said.
“Certainly we hope that the worst of the storms are past us for this storm season,†he said, “but if we should have to do more, we will take those steps at each grade level as necessary.â€
Students were originally scheduled to return from break on Monday, Jan. 8, but the new semester was delayed two days due to snow. School was canceled again that week on Friday as a second winter storm hit Lincoln. Then, students had a scheduled day off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, but temperatures were still too low Tuesday and school was called off again.
Gausman said it was hard to close school at the start of the semester, not only because it was the first few days back from break, but because many students rely on school for food and warmth.
“That was a really difficult decision for me on the day that we came back from holiday break because we didn’t have school that day,†he said. “Because we know that a lot of our students get their academic growth from us, but they also get their nutrition from us, and they’ve been on a long winter break.â€
To make the call, district officials meet with Gausman and gather information from weather experts and various city departments. They also consider the timing of storms, the risk of frostbite, whether the buses will run safely and if the custodial staff will be able to clear sidewalks and parking lots in time for the start of school.
There’s no absolute set of guidelines they follow and every situation is unique, Gausman said.
“We’re not going to close school anytime we’re simply below zero, as an example, because we would have a very altered school year,†he said. “Here in Nebraska, weather is not only constantly changing, it’s constantly challenging as well.â€
While the snow could finally start melting next week, the district may not be out of the woods yet when it comes to winter weather. An additional chance for snow is predicted Tuesday, although temperatures are set to be above freezing, dipping just below 32 degrees in the evenings and mornings all week.
Either way, Gausman is looking forward to some normalcy and finally having students back in class.
“Students really need consistency, and they need to have those systems in play on a regular basis,†he said. “So I look forward to getting back to whatever normal is for the rest of this particular winter season, and doing all we can to serve the students in the community.â€
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