Story updated March 6. to include information about yesterday’s blizzard.
Yesterday, a sudden blizzard left St. Paul with 9.5 inches of snow. This blizzard occurred after a week of warm temperatures and sunny weather that thawed Minnesota out of the chilly winter. Last morning, roads were unplowed and snow reached knee-levels, causing many blockages for students and faculty. Yet, administration resumed school normally even after they canceled two days of classes over below-zero temperatures. Many were confused and angry to the inconsistency of snow/cold days, especially because of the lack of snow during the previous two cold days and the dangerous driving conditions caused by the blizzard. So, how exactly does SPA decide to cancel school?
Jill Romans, the Assistant Head of School for Student Development and Community Engagement, is part of the group who decide to cancel school because of cold temperatures or snow. “There is a large group of administrators who gather to look at all of the indicators we are getting, and that group […] involves the principals, the Head of School, me, the Director of Operations and Security, the person who coordinates the bus, the Athletics directors, the Communications director. So it involves a lot of people,” Romans said.
So far this year, SPA has canceled school twice because of extremely low temperatures. A similarity between school being canceled due to the snow and school being canceled due to the cold is that both pose transportation issues. “It is not about the building per se, but it really is about the travel […] When the wind chills are that low, the exhaust from cars freezes and creates a layer of ice that can cause a lot of accidents. If you get in an accident, [and have to get out of the car] you can get frostbite in five minutes,” Romans said.
However, the approach is slightly different when the Twin Cities gets a lot of snow. “The timing of the snow matters because if it happens overnight, Minnesota is very good [at clearing] all the roads, and things might be great in the morning. So we might be making a call at six o’clock in the morning. All of our operations team, they’re out there looking at the streets,” she said.
So, is it better to have a snow or cold day? Either way, school is canceled, but it is a preference that varies from person to person. Sophomore Emmet Mena-Larson prefers a snow day over a cold day. “I love getting to stay home for a day randomly with my family […] I’ve been really disappointed recently though because we’ve only gotten cold days for the past two years,” Mena-Larson said.
And it’s true, during 2023 to 2025, Minnesota, on average, only had 13.3 inches of snow in February, compared to the average 25.8 inches from 2021 to 2023 (According to the MN Department of Natural Resources). “It just hurts my heart a bit to realize that it’s because of global warming that […] the heat melts the snow so fast,” he said. Mena-Larson is discouraged from going outside on cold days because the weather is so cold and dreary. Instead, he would prefer snow days where he could go outside for a walk in the fresh snow.
While weather days can be a surprisingly pleasant break for students, teachers must figure out how to compensate for the time lost that day. The two days that school was canceled this year both landed on day two in the block schedule, and students and faculty had an all-class day last Thursday to make up for it. Yet, school cancellations due to the weather are expected in a cold place like Minnesota, and administrators are well-equipped to make the right decisions.
How likely is another snow day this year?
