Superintendent rises early to check weather, roads

WASHINGTON - Decisions on snow days are not lightly made.

Washington schools Superintendent Willie Stone wants parents to know what goes in to those decisions, he told the school board last week. He'll be sending a letter to parents explaining the process.

That process starts early while nearly all students are still asleep.

At 4 a.m. on days when it is snowing, Stone drives around town checking the roads. After the tour, he calls the National Weather Service broadcast for schools and makes a decision before 5:15 a.m.

With snow storms, he said he does not make the decision the day before because it is unknown if the storm will hit or pass.

For days where school is canceled for cold weather, Stone said he tries to make a decision the night before. He said normally he will make a decision by 8:30 p.m.

Over the years, he said he discovered the temperature doesn't fluctuate nearly as much as the chance of snow. Last Tuesday morning, Stone said the temperature was projected to be -25 degrees when the students would be walking to school and -16 degrees at 9 a.m.

'We went two hours late because of that,” Stone said.