Learning with Leaming

Story by Adam Leaming, Ponca City Public Schools/Contributing Writer

Happy February, Ponca City Monthly readers! It’s the groundhog month, and it’s exciting to think that 2022 is still in its infancy as the year progresses into spring. With talk of spring around the corner, I’m hoping we have a mild February without any polar vortex repeats of 2021! It would actually be wonderful if we can usher in a swift spring, but we know in Oklahoma that predicting the weather is often a futile experience and we’re going to have to accept with a positive attitude whatever weather we get.

With my new position in the school district, I get the unenviable task to help decide when we should close due to inclement weather. It wasn’t nearly as difficult making this decision at a higher education level as it will be in this position for a number of factors. I’m hoping we have to never make this decision this year but, in all reality, we may have already had to close due to inclement weather at the time of this printing. I do want to unpack a few of these factors in how these decisions are made for you.

For those of us with children, particularly young children, when faced with a sudden closure of school we have to make a scramble of what to do with our children during the day. Those of us with essential jobs which do not stop for inclement weather, must either have a spouse, relative, friend or neighbor who can provide the care and supervision of our young ones lost with a closure.

From a social standpoint a school closure can add a layer of anxiety on our families. However, the inverse can be said on creating a layer of anxiety on families when school elects to remain open and the roads or side streets are slick, or parents who have no reliable transportation, must choose to send their child to walk to school.

It’s the intention of Ponca City public schools to make the decision for a school closure by 6 a.m. This is often difficult as weather systems don’t normally arrive at the times we would like for them to arrive. However, in this new position, I have a direct line of communication with the National Weather Service and their team of meteorologists out of Norman, Oklahoma. Using their latest forecasting models, we have all the data one can possibly have to help make the school closure decision. We aim for 6 a.m. as we have employees who report to work to get buses going, food to begin prepping and schools to be opened. Often times we’re looking at what the weather conditions will do throughout the day. Will the weather improve or will it remain severe?

Lastly as an educator you can see the real face of inequity and poverty in our community in our littlest of citizens. When schools elect to close you know as an administrator that some of our students will not have the luxury of care, supervision, heat or warm meals throughout the day. This emotional and social toll cannot be understated. One of the stories I share to illustrate why this is a difficult decision, was as a school principal I often times had to perform home visits for a variety of reasons. I recall a few of those visits being in the dead of winter, as I was wearing multiple layers trying to stay warm, I vividly remember one home not having solid windows, but instead blankets taped in the place of where windows should have been. In another home, when I knocked on the door and it opened, smoke came billowing out of the entrance as the family had a fire in a barrel on the garage floor to try and warm the home. Without school being open, we’re asking some of our students to survive.

I only write this article to give you a few of the thought processes we go through when electing to keep school open or closed during inclement weather. Ultimately our goal is to create as much in-person face time with the highest-quality teachers as possible. We know whenever there’s a decision to be made that impacts so many in our community that it will impact one group over another. Our hope is that we as a community rally behind the greater good and take a position of compassion and understanding in what goes into that decision. Thank you, Ponca City Monthly readers!