Schools around the Portland metro area will be closed for a second straight snow day on Friday, after an unexpectedly large snowstorm left roads around the region slick and icy, with warmer temperatures not expected until at least the weekend, if then.
The Gresham-Barlow district was the first of the metro area’s large districts to announce that it would be closed, followed closely by Portland Public Schools, the state’s largest school district. Other districts throughout Washington, Clackamas, Multnomah and Clark Counties quickly followed suit.
The Oregonian/OregonLive tracks school closure announcements in real time. The list of closures also includes private schools, community colleges and other organizations that have announced closures due to the snow storm that hit the region Wednesday.
You can bookmark this page to follow along as announcements come in, or consult the list in this post as it updates in real time.
Deciding whether or not to close schools is not always a straightforward decision for administrators, especially in Oregon, which has one of the nation’s shortest school years. School districts are required to offer at least 900 hours of school per year, or 990 hours for high school students.
Most districts have calendars that allow for the possibility of a couple of snow days. But if there are more than a handful, then the school year may be extended into June, or days that have been set aside for teacher professional development might be converted back into instructional days.
Administrators must weigh that against safety concerns. Even if roads within a particular district are passable for students, families and school buses, staff members may be coming from higher elevations or farther away.
“Maybe 20 or 30 years ago, staff members all lived in the community,” said Sue Rieke-Smith, the superintendent of the Tigard-Tualatin school district. “That is no longer true. I have staff members coming from Woodburn, from Sandy, from Forest Grove, from Canby, from Oregon City. And they have families and loved ones who want to see them at the end of the day. Sometimes Mother Nature just has her way with us.”
Before deciding whether to close schools, Rieke-Smith said, school administrators will send drivers to scout out routes throughout their areas, and consult with superintendents of neighboring districts.
A handful of private schools, including Central Catholic High School in Portland, as well as the Estacada school district in Clackamas County, announced plans to move to virtual school on Friday, with teachers conducting classes online. But that’s also a complicated call for school districts, given the need to make sure that all students and teachers have access to computers or devices, have consistent Wi-Fi and are not subject to power outages.
— Julia Silverman, @jrlsilverman, jsilverman@oregonian.com
