Inside LPS school closures: What goes into making the call?

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – On Friday, Lincoln Public Schools students headed back to the books after almost a week off.

Monday and Tuesday, students were already scheduled to have no class.

And due to frigid temperatures, they had no school Wednesday or Thursday.

“We do not want students to have to be exposed to unsafe wind chill temperatures on long walks to school or waiting at a bus stop for a pickup,” Interim Superintendent John Skretta.

According to LPS, some parents voiced their frustration and confusion, calling the district with questions on what factors officials take into account.

“As school district superintendent, despite the fact that both praise and blame are heaped up on me when making these decisions, these decisions are not made unilaterally,” Skretta said. “We make snow day decisions internally as a team.”

He said his team checks in with other districts to see if they experienced similar conditions.

The district also takes into the instructional hours students accumulated through the school year.

The goal is 1,032 hours for elementary and middle schoolers; for high schools, it’s 1,080.

“We do consider instructional time, as it relates to a closure decision,” Skretta said. “However, our priority will be and has always been student safety.”

He also said students and parents often see this issue differently.

Skretta said students celebrate school closures and send him emails beforehand with “highly persuasive essays” asking LPS to cancel.

“In sharp contrast to that, I would hear from parents who will say something along the lines, ‘When I was a kid, there was no such thing as a cold weather closure. Bundle them up and send them to school,'” Skretta said.