On Thursday, January 5, Kentuckiana had a severe weather alert due to snow and ice. Most schools in the region were closed or had a delay due to road conditions. Madison Consolidated Schools was the only school system in session for a full day within a fifty mile radius. Parents and students were concerned for their safety on the icy roads that morning, and though some students had accidents, no one was injured.

Mike Frazier, Director of Quality Systems, Operation, and Auxiliary Support wants parents and students to know just what goes into the decision-making of whether or not to call off school.

“We really make sure to keep a close eye on the weather,” Frazier said. “I keep in close communication with our county highway department because they are the ones who are going to be working on the road the next day. I mostly pay attention to the weather forecast to see what it is going to do to make sure we can arrive and leave school safely. A big factor people do not understand is that we have busses that roll out at six in the morning, therefore, we have to make a decision at about five-forty. I also keep in communication with Dr. Bollinger. We go out at about five o’clock and drive the roads and check them.”

Another important thing Frazier wanted to reminded is that if a parent feels the roads are too dangerous for their children to go to school, that parent may contact the school letting them know that their child will not be at school due to road conditions and that child will have an excused absence.

The policy, outlined in an October 28th newsletter sent to MCS families states, “During inclement weather, if parents believe it is in the best interest of their children to remain home, please inform the school of this decision.  Your child will be counted as absent, but the absence will be excused.”

You can find the severe weather policy here.

Since school was in session all extracurricular activities went on as scheduled besides the girls basketball game which was canceled. The temperature at the end of the school day was 24 degrees.

Many MCHS students were annoyed with decision.

MCHS sophomore Dillon Ray said, “I am mad about having to walk in the snow and cold to the Junior High for swim practice.”

Junior Kylie Stokes said, “Having school today was an unwise decision due to the roads, and the high school parking lot should have been cleared for students in the morning.”

Some, like Science teacher Bryan Dewitt, saw the bright side in attending school on the fifth.

“I am happy we did not have a snow day so it does not have to be made up over Spring Break,” Dewitt said.

Teachers and students prepared for an E-learning day in case the snow continued on Friday. The morning of Friday, January 6th resulted in a two hour delay which pleased many students and parents.

Finally, Frazier also wanted to emphasize how important the student safety is when making a decision. “The first thing we look at is the importance of the safety of the kids. If we can get 85 percent of our kids in here that’s good. The important thing is to try to get kids here safely.”