Winter storm preps underway for schools in south central Kansas

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – The first winter storm of the year means the first chance for schools in south central Kansas to be canceled.

While there’s a good possibility some students could have a three-day weekend, school districts said they consider several factors before calling off classes, including temperature, the number of snow days left for the school year and road conditions.

Valley Center School District Superintendent Greg Leahr said it’s hard to tell whether or not school should be canceled until the snow starts to fall. He said he’ll be up around 3:30 a.m. on Friday with the district’s transportation director to determine whether the roads are safe.

“Him and I will go drive different bus routes and different roads here throughout the district just to ensure that not only all of our buses and our cars can get to school safely,” Leahr said.

Wichita Public Schools will also be surveying the roads, but the district has other considerations as well.

“We look at the number of available school days which is also kind of important and a good factor for us to look at. Buildings and building conditions is another good piece that we look at because as kids get to school we want to make sure that the environment is conducive to learning,” Wichita Public Schools Operations Director Fabian Armendariz.

Individual districts have much the same criteria, but each decides independently on when or whether to call for a snow day. Armendariz said the latest USD 259 would call for cancellation would be 4:30 a.m. on Friday. Notifications would go out to families at 5:30 a.m.

Leahr said USD 262 would let staff know about that same time.

“Then make sure that our families know shortly thereafter,” said Leahr.

Both Leahr and Armendariz said if the storm hits early, before busses are running and there’s a lot of snow, there’s a better chance schools get canceled because student and staff safety is most important.

Copyright 2024 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email news@kwch.com