Hadley Andersen

Each year, there are plenty of snow days in North Liberty during the winter season.

Many students enjoy snow days, but how does the district decide if school is canceled? 

School cancellations are a common occurrence, especially during the winter months. Plenty of factors contribute to the district officials’ decision to cancel school. 

In the Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD), the primary reason for school cancellation is severe weather conditions such as ice, heavy snowfall and extremely low temperatures. When school cancellations are announced, it is communicated through staff and parents to ensure that all parties are informed. 

District officials monitor weather forecasts closely to ensure students’ safety during extreme weather. According to ICCSD, the district decides if they will delay or cancel school based on the severity of the weather. If the weather is seen to improve later on in the day, a delay may be the best choice, but if the conditions are not expected to clear, they will go for a full cancellation. 

“When we are monitoring inclement weather conditions, one of the groups we work closely with is our transportation department. Their team closely monitors local road conditions and determines if temperatures will impact the performance of our school buses in any way. We are not only looking at changes to the school day, but we also monitor any activities that are scheduled, such as sporting events or school activities that may also be impacted by the weather,” explained Kristin Pedersen, director of community relations within ICCSD. 

School cancellations could affect academic calendars and schedules because students are required to attend school for a minimum of 1,080 hours each school year. ICCSD builds in additional hours into the minimum 1,080 to ensure that there is no need for make-up days. However, it is always possible that students need to make up additional hours so they can meet their quotas.

In order for the district to make these decisions, they turn to other local sources. 

“The District utilizes information from the National Weather Service (NWS) for Iowa City, Iowa City Municipal Airport (KIOW). The NWS’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) wind chill index chart is utilized in the District’s decision-making process. The NOAA wind chill index chart can be found under Appendix A of our Inclement Weather Guidelines,” said Pedersen. 

As the winter months continue, ICCSD will continue to monitor the weather conditions closely in order to ensure students, parents and staff safety.