Classes as usual for some Lake County schools
Superintendent Phil Sobocinski drove around early Tuesday before deciding to keep students and teachers at home instead of having them at Warren Township High School in Gurnee.
Administrators and others at Lake Zurich Unit District 95 also meandered the streets in the wee hours, but reached a different conclusion about 15 miles southwest of Sobocinski's turf. Lake Zurich pupils and instructors reported to classes as usual.
Most of Lake County's schools were in the camp of Warren District 121. Closures spanned from Grant High School District 124 in Fox Lake on the west to Libertyville Elementary District 70 on the east.
Despite the calls for freezing rain and ice storms, the weather didn't turn as nasty as weather forecasters predicted in the morning and afternoon.
"The thing I kept hearing about was how far off the forecast was," District 95 spokesman Jim Jennings said.
Fire and police departments serving Mundelein, Grayslake, the Round Lake area, Lincolnshire and Vernon Hills were among those in Lake County that reported no major weather-related problems.
District 121 spokeswoman Carolyn Waller said Sobocinski got an early jump on trying to determine whether school should be held. He checked out Gurnee-area road conditions in parts of the 50-square-mile district about 1:30 a.m., she said.
An overall dismal weather forecast and a concern for the safety of about 500 teenage drivers played into the decision to close Warren.
"Once you get kids to school, you have to make sure they get home safely," Waller said.
Jennings said District 95 officials traveled the Lake Zurich area early Tuesday and concluded the streets were safe enough for travel to elementary buildings and the high school. District 95 made its call before 6 a.m., as did Warren.
Parents who strongly objected to District 95's determination were allowed to obtain an excused absence Tuesday if they didn't want their children to attend school.
"You find you never really win in a weather-related decision," Jennings said.