Well, this has never happened. It is amazing that in 70’s - 80’s we would get 4-6 inches of snow, and no one blinked. The only time the public schools closed was due to an actual blizzard. So Tues, and Wed it was due to snow, we got about 5 inches. Yesterday and today, the school is closed due to temperatures. We live in a very good school district with an abundance of stay at home moms, heck most of the kids are driven to school(a rant for another day). I just dont see what has changed. It probably has something to do with litigation, but I constantly tell my kids that, “hey, you know you are still expected to go to work when it snows”.
Where I live, they close school when its too cold to get the busses to start. Apparently the fuel is viscous and freezes. They also dont want the kids standing out in the severe cold (well for us single and low double digits is COLD), and with a risk of frozen precipitation and limited resources to deal with it… its a recipe to close the schools. Some are talking about having online assignments.
I don’t really get it. Our school this year has been really inconsistent. We closed in January for two days due to wind chills of -28. This week, we had a morning with a wind chill of -28. We had school. I don’t know what the difference was but it makes no sense to me. I will say we never closed schools due to cold when I was a kid (I know this makes me sound like an old codger).
Yes, they started online assignments here last year. We just used our 5th free day, so I guess if we have any more closings, they will start the online remedy. We probably have about another month of potential bad weather here in Ohio, then we should be home free.
I went to college in Milwaukee and the only cancellation I remember was classes after 4pm one day, as there was 6" on the ground and another 6" expected. We l iced there for 2 more winters, including some w temps -20 below and I never remember public schools closing.
My current district has become very aggressive keeping schools OPEN. We’ve only had 2 snow days this year and one delayed opening and one early close; all warranted in my opinion. Some neighboring towns have been closed 5 days.
@Onward, we have some of that same scenario here - I personally think they were too quick to cancel early in the season and now they are faced with too many days off so they are being more selective in when they call off. The two hour delay is popular here. 
Yesterday was -8 or so - the public schools closed (lots of walkers) but many suburban schools did not. Today, it’s -13 to -17 - everyone is closed. D2’s school has used up all it’s state days and is now on “blizzard bag” day 2.
Here’s what ticks me off - people complaining about their kids having to wait at the bus stop. Really, in the suburbs? Can you not be creative and alter your day so that you have your kids wait in the car with you at the bus stop to keep warm? I know that takes a little parent effort, but if they cancel school then you have to make accommodations for the kids anyway, right??? So work to accommodate those 15 mins???
People just want a day off often for their own convenience. It’s kind of ridiculous. I was reading comments last night like “can you please cancel before we go to bed so we don’t have to set our alarm?” THIS mentality…
The schools here almost never close. I have a daughter who is a teacher and the schools close maybe once a year, if that, and only if there is a tremendous amount of snow. They never close for cold. Ever. They keep the kids inside when it reaches a certain temperature but to close the schools? Doesn’t happen. It was -31 here this morning. The schools are open, the buses started, and the kids waited at their stops to be picked up. If the buses can start here in our temperatures, I’m not sure that that is a viable excuse somewhere to the south. 
@alwaysamom, you are right, the buses will start. The public schools for our city now close due to temps, and due to busing. I have many friends that are teachers, and they say so many parents dont send the kids with proper outerwear. I am not sure what happened to parenting between when I was growing up and now. It is really a sad state of affairs. However, we live in a top rated suburban district, probably less than 5% of the district would be considered lower income. The parents could get their lazy butts up and sit at the stop with kids, or drive the kids themselves, which most of them do anyway. Heck, no child has to even walk far to the bus stop, because they go into each subdivision. I am sure a bunch of whiny parents have called the board over the years to complain, and now we have this. I personally think it is awful. There are so many SAHMs in the district, for those parents who may have to work, they can always find a neighbor that can get their kid on the bus, or take them to school.
The kids that my partner works with have been off all week except Wednesday.
When I was in high school, they kept it open in negative 20+ weather despite the vast majority of schools in our area being closed and despite the fact that we have to walk between 4 buildings in between classes. I didn’t go but another student did and got frostbite in between classes- she sued the district (not sure whatever happened to her case). The superintendent ended up losing his job and now they’re quite a bit more likely to close.
I’ve had 3 snow days in college- the only snow days my universities have had since the 70s lol.
For me, it’s not a matter of just wanting a day off- I work at home on my snow days. It’s that if I have classes in multiple buildings, I literally cannot breath in between classes. This cold triggers my asthma. If I’m only in one building and it is a very short walk then it is no big deal. This, however, was not the case when I was in high school and not the case for me in college.
I grew up in the midwest, and am now back in the frozen (barely any snow this winter) far upper midwest. But I used to live in the MD suburbs of Washington, DC, and after seeing what the roads and drivers were like in foul weather, my vote there would be to shut down the schools even more often. It really, truly, is a public safety issue in that region.
happymom, that reminded me of this really heartbreaking story from around here earlier this year: father and son killed while father was driving his 3 kids to school on icy roads:
My husband grew up in Southern California when, back in the day, they closed schools because of RAIN. In comparison, closing schools when it’s negative-whatever outside seems quite reasonable.