During the 2023-2024 school year, there has been a noticeable decrease in the number of school closures for Academy District 20 (D20). Under the leadership of a new superintendent, the decisions regarding these delays and closures have been called into question as possibly endangering D20 students.
Whether by sleeping with their pajamas inside out, flushing an ice cube down the toilet, or putting a spoon under their pillow, many D20 students are often hopeful for school closures when it comes to winter weather conditions.
Despite the innocent hope of staying home from school for a day just to spend time at home, many older high school students hope for these events as well. Without these closures, they face the scary reality of driving to school themselves, sometimes slipping on icy roads and having low visibility due to snow.
“I remember driving to school on January 5th after my dad cleared me to drive, thinking it would be okay considering the district didn’t postpone or close school,” junior Delaney Brandt stated. “Then on my way to school I ended up sliding on ice as I was trying to get onto I-25, which was really scary as a new driver.”
These conditions are completely unsafe for students, most of whom are new drivers, to be risking just to attend school.
Not only are student drivers having a hard time, but bus-goers and drivers also struggle to commute to school in intense weather conditions. On the 5th of January, the first Friday back to school after winter break, multiple buses were involved in minor crashes in District 20.
“Sometimes I wonder about the tires and the grip they offer on icy conditions, not to mention the unpleasantness of how cold the bus itself is,” junior Aslan Rivenburg admitted.
“It’s a little bit different driving a bus,” an anonymous D20 bus driver stated.
Many parents and students called for further action from the district on January 5th and 8th, as both days had intense snow and wind conditions, with the wind forecast in Colorado Springs being mentioned as “threatening to life or property.”
Despite neighboring school districts such as District 49 and District 11 having closures and delays on these controversial days, D20 did not bend in its decision to keep schools open. The Air Force base was also closed on Monday the 8th, while D20 schools on base, Douglas Valley and Air Academy, remained open.
Although there are many reasons to delay and close schools, the decision to remain open might be more complex.
Recently, the decision to introduce online learning snow days was implemented for D20, allowing students to only have the first two snow days of the year completely off. After these two instances, students and teachers are instructed to hold online classes.
“I think they’re good so that school doesn’t have to go longer into the summer,” junior Echo Anderson explained, “[but] it’s not very relaxing.”
Two snow days being allotted for school cancellation suggests that there is the expectation for more closures to occur. These closures, along with PLC late starts, have pushed school start times across D20 back 5 minutes.
All of these ideas create a complicated web of reasons behind the decisions of delays and cancellations. However, when student and faculty lives are risked in order for contact hours, the delicate balance of these issues should be immediately outweighed.
