District 214 stands by decision to open amid cold Thursday

While many suburban students went back to school on Friday after having a couple of days off, some parents and students in Northwest Suburban High School District 214 were still reeling from the decision to keep the district's six high schools open on Thursday when almost every other suburban school was closed due to cold.

Online postings from District 214 about the decision to stay open have more than 350, mostly negative, comments from parents and Superintendent David Schuler said he also has gotten feedback from unhappy parents. Stevenson, Evanston and Niles high schools were also open. School Board President Bill Dussling said he stands by Schuler's decision.

"It's not an easy call to make, but Dr. Schuler made the right call," Dussling said. "I understand the weather was inclement, there's no doubt about that. But, the wind chill was not within our protocols."

Schuler said the policies regarding school closings have already been softened from when he first became superintendent 10 years ago. Then, the policy was not to consider canceling classes unless the "feels like" temperature with windchill was -30 degrees or lower. About seven years ago, that number changed to -25 and allowed officials to take other circumstances into consideration such as snow and icy roads.

"I am not opposed to re-examining our current cold-weather practice, but I do not think it is prudent to change without knowing the implications of doing so," Schuler said in a letter posted on the district website. The district has four emergency days built into the calendar, so canceling school for less extreme temperatures could lead to more days off school "with the potential impact of going to school on Saturdays or into late June," the letter said.

Parents were also upset because there was a power outage at Elk Grove High School on Thursday, but officials said it lasted less than an hour. And a fire alarm went off in a Rolling Meadows High School science lab, which sent students outside without coats. In less than five minutes, they were taken into the field house while officials investigated.

Dussling said he has had a few emails from parents, but they haven't all been negative.

"Some people were saying 'School is important and we understand there are protocols for this,'" he said.

And one Daily Herald commenter, Michael Hansen, wrote: "Years of 'snow' and 'cold weather' days have led to the formation of a generation of students who expect and demand class cancellation whenever the weather is the least bit unpleasant. Closing school when there is a genuine risk to safety is, of course, the right thing to do. However, I think closing school too much sends a bad message to students. Outside of the education system, the world goes on turning ... even when it's a -30 wind chill outside."