January has been a rough month for school districts when it comes to winter weather.

Greene County School District Superintendent Brett Abbotts tells Raccoon Valley Radio he has an extensive checklist he goes through when decisions are made to have delayed starts, early dismissals, or to cancel school altogether. Some of those factors include visibility and temperature at the time of travel, gravel and in town road conditions, consulting with other superintendents, as well as communicating with the county road plows, among others. 

Abbotts points out the main reason why certain decisions are made during the winter season.

“The first thing that we’re always concerned about is student safety. You know, making sure that our kids can get home safe, and then you know making sure that our buses can travel the roads safely too and get all of those kids home too.”  

Abbotts notes the cut-off time for a morning delay is before 6am and an early dismissal is by 11:30am. He adds that the district has used three “snow days” which will not impact the end of the school year for students, as the last day is still May 24th.