If snow days are cause for cheering and hot cocoa among school children, they can be headache-inducing for school district leaders trying to balance safety with the prospect of lost instruction and upset parents.
For some Front Range school districts, last week’s back-to-back school cancellations were no exception.
Susana Cordova, Denver Public Schools’ acting superintendent, joked about the Catch-22 last Friday in an e-mail newsletter with the subject line: “Snow Days: Proof We Can’t Please Everyone.”
Cordova included a sampling of parent reactions to the week’s snow day decisions, ranging from “dumb” to “Great call! It’s awful outside.”
If more parents are angry about snow days than usual, it’s no coincidence. Five years of data compiled by Chalkbeat shows that Denver and a few other large districts have closed schools a record number of times this year for weather-related reasons. Some schools now must add instructional minutes to meet state requirements.
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