This February, students attending Wichita Public School’s had a historic turn of events over our parent-teacher conference break: five consecutive snow days, and nine consecutive days without school being in attendance.
This follows after the handful of snow days we already had off in January.
Of course, snow day discussion in our district does not come without its controversies; here’s everything you need to know about what happened.
Parent opinions
It’s a known fact that you can’t please everyone, but parental opinions are very mixed on the district’s discretion over their decisions.
The complaints: Parents who were for the snow days supported the decisions mainly because of student safety. Lots of parents commented that they would rather their children be at home and away from the cold weather and wind, rather than in school. Every method of getting to school on the slick roads, whether it comes to driving, walking, or waiting for the bus, puts students at risk of being injured or catching a cold. Without clear sidewalks or temperature maintained buildings, student and staff safety, above learning, was the most important.
However, parents who were against the decision argued that an entire week off of school was too much, and that the district was only canceling school because they were afraid of backlash from the public. Some parents on the WPS Facebook page also pointed out that many students rely on school lunch and breakfast to eat, or use school as an escape from abuse at home. These complaints from parents are valid, and they both have to do with student safety.
Timing of notification
Many students and parents rely on the Wichita Public Schools Instagram, Facebook, and phone number to find out if they have school the next day. The district has received lots of backlash, this past month and in the last few years, about the timing of their snow day notifications. In the past, they have canceled school as late as 5 AM the day of.
WPS Bond Vote
Before the WPS Bond voting occurred, many commenters noticed that one of their posts had very targeted language, attempting to sway support towards the bond, which would provide more money for WPS to refurbish outdated buildings or other maintenance related issues. The grant did not win enough votes, but one commenter on Facebook, Thomas Montiel, pointed out WPS’s inconsistency on an announcement posted on February 20th: “Wichita Public Schools please understand the inconsistency in your choices, with the addition of what feels like a passive aggressive nature in tone in your messaging, comes across that this decision is only being made due to the current bond vote. In order to better make things make sense, can any clearly articulate why kids can attend school tomorrow (only 2 degrees difference) and could not attend today? I am asking to have a clear understanding.”
Who is in charge of the decision?
This direct quote from the WPS website says that the superintendent, Kelly Bielefeld, has full authority over snow day decisions: “The Superintendent has the authority to declare a “snow day” and determine on a day by day basis which work/pay groups are required to report for work.”
What else is the district doing about snow days?
One story written by Aditi Lamba at KSN talks more about what school officials are planning to do about the consequences of all these snow days. Read “Kansas school districts weigh impact of snow days” to find out more.
