By WILL PERKINS
Glasgow News 1
As school districts prepare for inclement weather during the upcoming winter months, Barren County Schools Transportation Director Scott Chapman spoke with WCLU Radio about how they make those tough decisions.
“Winter is coming and we’ve got to make some of these decisions about school,” Chapman said. “Whether or not we’re going to go or not.”
Safety is the No. 1 priority, Chapman added.
“We keep our students and our staff first and foremost at the top when it comes to making these decisions,” he said. “Not everybody is going to probably agree with these decisions, because the weather doesn’t (always) affect the whole county — it can affect just parts of it, and we’ve gotta take those things into consideration.”
The unpredictability of weather forecasts and what actually occurs can lead to late decisions or even decisions in the middle of the school day.
“You never want those decisions to happen,” Chapman said. “But they do arise, and you’ve just gotta make the best decision at that time — and again, it’s all about safety.”
If the area is forecasted to see inclement weather, and the school district has not called off school, Chapman said he will get out and check the roads as early as 3:30 a.m, trying to inspect the ones that are more likely to become hazardous.
“We check those spots. We have spotters as well,” Chapman said. “We come together, hopefully in a timely manner, to make a decision where it doesn’t affect the people in making other plans based on what decision we make.”
While they can choose to close or delay the school day, Chapman said they haven’t done many delays in the past few years.
“Mostly now with closures, we look at our non-traditional instruction days when we start talking about the weather,” he said. “A lot goes into these decisions and they can be very stressful, because you want to make the right decision that involves a lot of people.”
Per state law, school districts are allowed to use 10 non-traditional instruction days per school year.
Michael Davis, director of elementary education for Barren County Schools, told WCLU Radio that when the school district uses these non-traditional days, they want to make sure students are still receiving high-quality instruction while also keeping overall safety in mind.
“We want to continue learning during those days,” Davis said. “Keep our students safe, but also continue learning.”
When the district plans to use these non-traditional days, communication will be sent out via the Barren County Schools website, district app and local media.
“We try to get that information out as early as we can,” Davis said. “Whether it be the night before or early the next day so that parents can make their decisions regarding their students and what they need to do during the day.”
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