After one school bus slid off the road and another got stuck in the snow during recent storms, a concerned parent sent a letter to the school district questioning the wisdom of keeping schools open despite dangerous road conditions.
The incidents highlight the challenges school districts face on snowy days in La Plata County, which has varying topography. On one hand, schools want to err on the side of caution and call snow days when roads might be dangerous. On the other, schools want to hold classes when possible and avoid disrupting families’ lives and the educational process unless absolutely necessary.
A bus carrying 30 Riverview Elementary School students home Feb. 22 slid off Florida Road and into a ditch near Edgemont Meadows Road at about 3:30 p.m., according to a statement Durango School District 9-R sent to The Durango Herald. The bus was traveling slowly and no one was injured. Another bus picked up the students within 20 minutes and continued on the route.
Around 8 a.m. the next morning (Feb. 23), a bus carrying seven students from Sunnyside Elementary, Escalante Middle and Durango High schools became stuck in a foot of snow on County Road 303, the statement continued. A team from the district’s transportation department pulled the bus out and the students were on their way within 20 minutes.
At the same time the bus became stuck in the snow, another bus had mechanical issues related to its air compressor, the statement said. It was transporting 30 students from Park Elementary, Escalante Middle, Durango High and Big Picture High schools. Students were transferred to another bus within 30 minutes.
Parent Ruby Sullivan, who has a sixth grader at Miller Middle School, sent an email to Dr. Karen Cheser, the district superintendent after hearing about the school bus sliding off the road and the other becoming stuck in the snow.
“Which Durango 9R employee is responsible for ignoring the winter storm warning last week?” Sullivan wrote in her email. “How and why did they make this decision?”
The decision put lives at risk and the school district needs to explain its decision, wrote Sullivan, who added that she understands some parents get upset when a snow day is called, but still wondered why students could not have worked from home, as they did during the pandemic and past snow days?
And as far as students making up for missed days, Sullivan suggested it could be done on days marked as professional development days, when schools are closed to allow staff to attend workshops. The last development day was Monday, Feb. 6, Sullivan wrote.
“... The district felt it was more important to have staff attend a workshop on ‘hope’ so they can ‘instill hope into our children,’” Sullivan wrote. “When will parents receive more information on what was discussed during that workshop and how teachers plan to ‘instill hope?’”
The school district did not address staff development days in its statement to the Herald, but it did attach an infographic explaining the process that goes into the decision to close or keep schools open during snow days.
“About 100 people are consulted in our community to collaborate on making the decision,” said Karla Sluis, spokeswoman for the school district.
At 4 a.m., officials from multiple agencies, such as the Colorado Department of Transportation, La Plata County Electric Association, city of Durango and La Plata County communicate with the Office of Emergency Management to assess the risks to public safety resulting from the weather, according to the infographic. OEM then contacts 9-R’s safety director with a recommendation regarding school closures. At 4:30 a.m., multiple staff members, including the transportation director, report on road conditions from remote areas. And then at 5 a.m., the district’s superintendent and safety director make the call on whether to close schools.
“All of this falls on the shoulders of our superintendent,” Sluis said. “It’s her final decision to make and it’s always our first choice to have kids in school if we can. It’s really important not to disrupt learning.”
Sluis added that the roads were clear and it was not snowing at 4:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Feb. 22 and 23 when the decision to keep schools open was made, and that it did not begin to snow until later on those days.
A statement from Daniel Blythe, the district’s transportation director, was included in the statement from the district.
“We understand that families in some areas have heavier snow, and plows may be slower to clear certain county roads,” he said. “However, we only close schools if the majority of roads are hazardous across our 1,000 square-mile range. We won’t cancel school because of one hazardous road, such as the spot near Edgemont where it is frequently icy during winter storms.”
In November 2015, a bus taking 44 Park Elementary School students home did a complete rollover after the driver ran off Lightner Creek Road and went down a 30- to 40-foot embankment. Ten children were taken to the hospital with minor and moderate injuries. There was no snow or ice on the road at that time.
Cheser included a statement praising snowplow and school bus drivers for navigating the conditions during a “big snow season” so that “students' learning can continue uninterrupted.”
“Our drivers know they have precious cargo,” Cheser’s statement said. “They always take extra caution, drive slower, use their chains, and do a great job at getting children safely to school.”
The bus that was stuck in the snow had chains in use, Sluis said in an email Tuesday (Feb. 28), and while the district’s transportation staff said it is “very likely” the bus that slid off the road had its chains in use, “the driver was a sub and is off today so we cannot confirm that 100%.”
Sluis responded to Sullivan’s question about why students can’t stay home and employ the same online learning technology they did during the pandemic and past snow days.
The logistics don’t make sense, Sluis said. There are equity issues because many spots in the county have “very poor” Wi-Fi – so the students cannot connect – while other students lack the necessary equipment (despite the district providing students with Google Chromebooks). And while older students fare better with online learning, it’s not the case for the younger ones.
“The elementary age, those kiddos have a much harder time focusing for long periods in the digital environment at home, versus a classroom,” Sluis said. “So our goal is to focus on that in-person learning. And ... for some parents ... it’s a much harder option for one person to stay home, it means a missed day of work. And some families don’t have sick days or paid leave.”
Sullivan said she received a voicemail response from Sluis on Friday around 6:30 p.m., but she believes the only reason she received a response was because the Herald contacted the school district about Sullivan’s email.
“She left me a voicemail saying that I sounded very angry in my email, and it just sounded very invalidating,” Sullivan said. “I honestly was surprised I got a response from them because this is not the first time I’ve expressed my concerns and they never respond. And I am certainly not ‘angry,’ I’m just trying to find out what is going on?”
Sullivan said she left a lot of questions and concerns out of her email and added that she just never gets any updates or information from the district about the weather, learning loss from the pandemic or the construction project going on while the kids are attending school.
“We, the parents, would just like some information and answers,” Sullivan said. “And also I didn’t want to have a voice conversation, I wanted written documentation, which is why I email them every time. And they always try to play the call-you-back game so that it’s off the record. And I don’t play the off-the-record game. If I send a written communication I expect a written response and they don’t do that. I’m still waiting for a written response back from them.”
Sullivan concluded by saying parents are well aware that students have experienced “learning loss” as a result of the inadequacies of online learning but asked – “What is best for the kids, to have a day off with no learning or a day off with online learning? I just feel that something is better than nothing.”
gjaros@durangoherald.com
