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Students Must Make Up Cancelled Classes

 Four extra days of class have been added to the calendar for Springfield public schools, pushing the last day to June 4th. WUIS took a look at how it's decided that school should be canceled ...

Turns out being a superintendent of schools comes with a lesser known job duty - being the district's meteorologist. It's up to Bob Hill, the District's interim superintendent, to follow weather updates and make the final call on cancelling school. He says generally if the wind-chill or actual temperature is 18 below or colder, school will be called off. Hill says he's especially concerned with protecting the district's elementary students when the temperature drops. “I've told several people that if we only had high school students in the district, given their maturity level and their ability to fend for themselves, we probably would have school," said Hill.

Snow days are called if transportation is deemed too dangerous. Sometimes a couple bus drivers are given the task of testing bus routes early in the morning before an ultimate decision is made. If more than 5 days are called off due to weather, the state board could grant waivers allowing school to be let out in early June regardless.

Rachel Otwell of the Illinois Times is a former NPR Illinois reporter.
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