Most students hope for a snow day for the purpose of avoiding unfinished homework, a yearn for a long weekend, or they could just use an old-fashioned neighborhood snow ball fight. Whether you believe in luck, karma, fate, or nothing at all, you must admit you’ve tried a snow day ritual at least once. Some of the top snow day rituals performed are turning your pajamas inside out, placing a spoon under your pillow, flushing ice cubes down the toilet, running around the kitchen table five times, placing a white crayon in the freezer, and sleeping on opposite ends of the bed. Are the chances a of a snow day increased if multiple of these rituals are performed on the same night, or cursed?

Another snow day mechanism students use to predict whether or not they should ‘study their vocab list’ or put it off is a Snow Day Calculator website. The webpage uses predictions based on the timing and strength of the snowstorm, using most recent weather information available from Weather.gov. The website is also an app for Apple and Android phones, and receives around 250,000 hits per storm.

Despite rituals and calculations, the decision for school is ultimately made by Kennebunk Superintendent, Andrew Dolloff. The call is based on what is best for the three communities and six schools that comprise our RSU 21 district. He comes to this conclusion through conferring with transportation directors, public works officials, and other superintendents throughout the region. Making the call for a snow day is one of the most dreaded decisions to be made. Superintendent George Entwistle of Scarborough High School said in an interview with the Kennebunk Post, “It’s always pretty much never a total win.” While some percent of the population of parents, students, or faculty will always disapprove, modern technology helps with faster communication and more accurate information on weather patterns. Many districts contract Precision Weather Services for forecast analyses and snow projections; the operation manager, Russ Murley calls each superintendent with a localized report.

Superintendent Dolloff says he is up by 3:15am making calls with roads crews and transportation directors. He has formed a group with the Superintendents of Biddeford, RSU 23 (Dayton, Old Orchard Beach, and Saco), and Wells & Ogunquit to asses the situation (all towns touch the open sea). Of early dismissals Dolloff said, “Unless you’ve got a blizzard coming in, it’s a real hassle for parents to end a school day early. We really try to avoid that.” Dolloff acknowledges that if parents don’t agree with schools being open in certain weather conditions, they can always choose to keep their child at home. The decision to cancel school is almost always made before 5am, and the day is added to the end of the district’s academic calendar.

http://midmittenkids.com/2012/01/12/ten-snow-day-rituals/

http://www.snowdaycalculator.com/calculator.php

Kennebunk Post Vol. 25 No. 22. January 2, 2014. “Supers often dislike calling snow days”