Wednesday, January 11, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
25
The Nugget Newspaper Crossword
By Jacqueline E. Mathews, Tribune News Service
PHOTO BY CEILI CORNELIUS
Schools, like everyone else, are struggling with where to put all the snow.
CLOSURES:
Student safety is
the key criteria
Continued from page 1
of work. They aren’t paid for
snow days when schools are
closed, so the extra spring
days when they are work-
ing don’t affect the District’s
budget, Scholl said.
School District employ-
ees generally do the snow
removal. Only rarely, such
as during the snowfall before
Christmas, does the District
contract with private workers
for help. He wasn’t sure how
much December’s dumping
cost the District for outside
help.
On days when school staff
members clear snow, Scholl
said, there is no additional
cost to the District. However,
he noted that those employ-
ees are taken away from
duties to which they’re other-
wise assigned. That’s a non-
financial “cost” of snowfall,
he said.
Money for snow removal
is included in each year’s
budget, Scholl added, so no
additional appropriation is
needed.
He is in his second year as
Sisters School District super-
intendent and doesn’t have
much to compare this win-
ter’s snowfall with. However,
Scholl said longtime residents
have told him this is a heavy
snow year.
“Last year we missed
(school days) for freez-
ing rain and had one snow
day,” he said. “This is dra-
matically different than last
year. I spoke to one parent
who’s been here nine years
and they said this is the most
snow they’ve seen here. And
it’s cold and the snow hangs
around.”
When the decision is made
to close schools, Scholl said
the District contacts local
media to spread the word as
well as putting a notice on the
District website.
Some people question why
a decision can’t be made the
night before when a big storm
is forecast for the following
day. Scholl said he must
wait to make the call because
sometimes the big storms that
are expected don’t show up.
“One of the forecasts I
saw the other day was for
between four and 10 inches of
snow,” he said. “Four inches
is not a problem. Ten is. Then
there’s always the question of
whether it actually shows up.
“We wait until the morn-
ing to make sure what it is.
One time, we drove the roads
and everything was fine but
by 6 a.m. it was snowing
heavily. We got kids home
safely. Is it a perfect system?
No. But we do our best to
keep safety at the top of the
equation.”
— Last Week’s Puzzle Solved —
Is it a perfect system?
No. But we do our best
to keep safety at the top
of the equation.
— Curtiss Scholl
Last Friday, the tempera-
ture was minus 18 degrees
when officials drove the
roads, which were well
plowed. Despite relatively
clear roads, Scholl said
school buses had trouble
starting — the diesel had
jelled — and some students
waited longer than usual in
the frigid conditions.
Each potential storm is
different, and sometimes it’s
a difficult call whether to
hold classes or not.
“We are balancing safety
and the number of school
days needed,” Scholl said.
“We need to make sure the
weather situation is real.”
Besides closing school on
January 4, District officials
also canceled that evening’s
school board meeting. Scholl
said it’s likely the board will
simply postpone this month’s
agenda and add it to the
February meeting’s agenda.
The school board regu-
larly meets on the first
Wednesday of the month at 5
p.m. at the District adminis-
tration building.
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