(1/19/2009)
WIND CHILL TEMPATURE TO DISMISS SCHOOL
I informally used -25 wind chill but only cancelled school once due to wind chill.
We don’t have a set policy. Through discussions with some other supts, 20-25 below wind chill is in the range of consideration of canceling school. don’ think we have a hard and fast rule in Kankakee County, but tonight’s prediction (-10 and 15-20 mile an hour winds) has got our attention. We are calling each other early tonight and making our collective minds up. Remember, it is the safety of the children.
Vermilion Co superintendents have an understanding (although not all of us follow it at all times) that -20 wind chill by 6:00 am triggers a day out. Too dangerous for kids walking and waiting at a bus stop.
When I was at Cambridge the area superintendents decided that if the wind chill was going to be greater than -20 we would consider closing school. We took this step in 2007 and did close school do to the wind chill the first Monday in
February of that year. I am now at Tri-Point and we are discussing whether or not to announce tonight that the schools will be closed tomorrow due to the wind chill.
I am in Carrollton and I have been contacting my local peers. Yes, when still a principal - my district did cancel school with similar wind chill predictions. I plan to make a decision by 8 p.m. tonight so that parents can make arrangements if necessary.
Back in the mid-90’s I did as a principal here in the Chicago burbs. It was about
80 below, but that was before they changed how they measure that. By today’s standards, it was probably about 30-40 below.
We will be considering if wind chill approaches -25.
We are going to cancel tomorrow. Predicted 34 below wind chill.

Yes, at -25 to -30 and the forecast we have cancelled school. I think in 18 years school has been cancelled only once due to cold and the wind chill exceeded -
30. Really, depends if your transportation system and community is prepared for the cold.
Our buses are diesel and our fuel starts to jell at -20 so our policy is to call off school on any day that wind chill factor is minus 20 or below we cancel school.
We are a rural district and some of our routes are 60 minutes long or more.
We don't normally, but schools over our way are talking about it for tomorrow.
My struggle is so many of our kids are warmer and eat better when the are here.
I just sent a letter home to parents stating they can drop their students off earlier than usual and we will provide supervision, they can arrive late or parents can keep them home. However, most businesses do not cancel work for wind chill and because of the number of working families; I do not want to cancel. would not suggest sending student’s home early because of wind chill. If you go home early, it becomes a concern whether parents are home. However, I have cancelled school in the morning over the wind chill. No set temperature but if it is below zero and the wind is taking the wind chill to 20 degrees below, I then begin considering. Like anything else, it is a shot in the dark
We don’t dismiss…but we do have our bus drivers wait for kids coming out of their homes…so the kids are not standing outside at a bus stop
Macon County did cancel due to wind chill several years ago. We are "talking" about it again today.
When I was in Quincy we canceled school due to cold. Wind chill was
SUSTAINED at -20.
We have already had the discussion here in the McLean County area, and are using a similar criteria for the next two days.

In my opinion, there is no logic in dismissing school early due to cold/wind chill.
Generally speaking Joel 35 below is a mark we usually call it, sometimes 30 if roads are bad.
We normally don’t release for wind chill. We release for heat due to the classes being warm, etc. but that is not the case in wind chill.
We have cancelled or delayed and I use -20 if it is sustained at that level. We are certainly considering it for tomorrow and/or Friday but will get closer before we call it.