Although many Edina High School students groaned with frustration when they discovered that school was not canceled due to cold temperatures on Jan. 7th, Superintendent Ric Dressen stayed firm in his decision to have school continue as usual. He did state that if students were unable to attend because their parents deemed it too cold, it would be an excused absence.

Hundreds of other districts within the same state lines closed, believing the temperatures were dangerously too cold to have school continue as usual. Last year, Dressen’s actions were similar to that of the other school districts. EHS was closed, just as most other districts were as well.

This year, however, Dressen wishes to have a two-hour late start in the event of extreme weather instead of cancellation for the entirety of the school day.

The general attitude of some of the EHS staff appears to be along the lines that last year had far too few school days, and seems to be fond of this new policy. Whereas, the general attitude of the EHS students appears to be the more cold and snow days, the better.

Personally, I believe that the district should decide on a certain temperature that is believed dangerous to be outside long enough to wait for the bus or to walk to school. Once temperatures reach this point, school should be canceled. However, if thermostats dip below this temperature solely in the morning, a two-hour late start is fitting.

The case-by-case policy can lead to confusion. For older students, uncertainty about homework and tests lead to students being ill-prepared if school is scheduled as usual. For younger students, if both parents work, those students need to find child care for the day.

For open enrollment students, transportation becomes an issue if the Edina district makes a decision different than that of another district.

A main concern about school being open during extreme temperatures is that some students may not have the appropriate winter clothing to wait for the bus or walk to school safely. A common rebuttal to this argument is that some students could be receiving free or discounted lunches. Therefore, it is possible that their families would have a financial burden by continually have to provide lunches for their children each time school is canceled.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions shared in this article are those of the writer, and not Zephyrus as a whole.