Cold temperatures cause school closures & delays

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) -The week’s frigid sub-zero temperatures have begun to subside.

The weather event ended strong, however, as Monday night saw the coldest of the week’s temperatures, and school districts everywhere took notice.

More than 50 local schools made changes to their Tuesday schedule to a variety of effects.

Schools within the same city took different paths: the Mankato Area Public School District delayed class, while schools like Loyola closed entirely.

“We made the decision to delay school today yesterday afternoon. and that decision was made early to try and be out front predicting what the weather conditions might be approximately 12 hours later,” said the Mankato Area School District’s John Lustig. “We know the impact the disruption has on families needing to make alternative engagements for kids who won’t come to school or are going to come to school late.”

The decision to delay, close or early release school ultimately comes down to the district’s superintendent, but the decision isn’t made in a vacuum.

Conversations with other departments, bus drivers and even other school districts influence decisions when winter weather hits.

The Mankato School District said that the number one priority in the winter is the safety of students and staff, and because of that decisions aren’t always straightforward, especially when the problem is the cold rather than a clear snow or blizzard.

“There isn’t a checklist that says if we mark these many things then it’s an automatic decision, there’s a lot of judgment that’s involved that’s calculated on a case-by-case basis,” Lustig said.

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