Pointes Parents Offer Mixed Opinions on Schools' Decision to Stay Open Despite Weather

When  remained open Monday and Tuesday in the face of wintry conditions, some parents wondered why neighboring districts closed but theirs had not.

The temperatures were barely in the double digits Tuesday, but it felt like -5 with wind chills. Many schools in the metropolitan area cancelled school Monday and Tuesday, including schools in St. Clair Shores and Eastpointe.

Superintendent of Grosse Pointe Public Schools C. Suzanne Klein said Tuesday morning that the temperatures were higher than on Monday, and many districts in Wayne County were open because they were not as affected by the lake effect snowfall as some districts in the northern counties. She said she had received one phone call from a concerned parent Tuesday, but she has not received any other feedback — good or bad.

Still, the decision yielded a fair amount of discussion on Facebook this morning from parents. On the Grosse Pointe Patch page, readers had mixed opinions about the situation. One wrote that "there is no good reason not to have school today."

"I guess we're not a busing district, but there's no way I would let my kid walk in this," said Grosse Pointe Woods resident Kathy Abke, whose two sons attend . "And the teachers have to travel to school. If everybody is out and we're not, why not?"

If parents disagree with the district's decision on any given day, Klein said, they can  keep their kids home, and there is no penalty for the absence.

Decision process starts around 3 a.m.

Klein said there are a lot of factors that go into making the decision. The process starts at 2:30 or 3 a.m. on days in question. 

Usually, the staff responsible for removing snow and salting the sidewalks and parking lots are the first to start assessing conditions, Klein said. Then, an assistant superintendent gets involved. 

The team assesses the amount of snow, the weather in general and whether conditions might put the safety of the students at risk, Klein said. Although the district does not have to factor in busing, Klein recognizes driving conditions are still important for students and parents who will be braving the roads. 

Some parents agreed with the district's decision.

"Would I have loved a snow day? Absolutely! Was I waiting for that 6 a.m. call? You bet!" Grosse Pointe Park resident Kim Clexton said in an e-mail. "However, I think (Grosse Pointe) made the right call for our district." Clexton has children attending , and .

"The conditions were bad, and it's good to get as many people off the road as possible, but most of us live within two miles of the school we need to get to," Clexton said. "Without the issue of buses and kids at bus stops for long periods of time, I think we just don't have the same urgency to close."

It can be tough when neighboring districts reach a different decision

Still, some parents questioned why Grosse Pointe schools remained open.

"Why is their (the districts') thinking so different than every other district?" Abke said. "Why is that?"

Some parents were ambivalent. They worried about the freezing temperatures, but understood why schools were open.

"It stinks that we are so close to other schools that are closed," said Christine Kline, a Grosse Pointe Woods resident who lives a couple blocks from St. Clair Shores, and whose son attends Mason. "But this is why we moved to Grosse Pointe, so school wouldn't close with just a couple of inches of snow."

Catherine Fly, a Woods mother with three children in Grosse Pointe schools, walked her youngest daughter to elementary school this morning.

A former resident of Rochester, NY, Fly said she bundles up for the weather and her daughter enjoys the walk to school. "I'm always cold," Fly said. "(But) it doesn't really bother me."

No matter what the decision is on any given day, there will be some parents or residents who disagree, Klein said.

"We hear both sides of the stories. It's a judgment call," Klein said. "It's up to the parents to keep their kids home."