Whenever there is a significant weather event, school districts face the decision of whether or not to cancel school. WRAL often hears from viewers wondering why a particular decision was made.

So, we asked school systems what goes into their decisions regarding canceling schools for winter weather. Are there specific metrics for precipitation, temperature and road surfaces?

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From what we found, there are not. 

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools:

A CH-CCS spokesperson referred us to its website. It does not list specific numbers, but rather explains the considerations to include whether people who drive, ride buses and walk can get to school safely. It also notes that many CHCCS employees commute in from other areas. 

Durham Public Schools:

In Durham, Superintendent Anthony Lewis said that there are no specific numbers the district is looking for. Rather, its leaders take a big picture approach.

"We don't have, necessarily a science behind it in terms of what certain numbers should get to before we make that decision," Lewis said.  "We lean heavily on the National Weather Service, our local meteorologists...We just try to make the best decision with the information we have at that time."

Safety of the roads for buses is particularly relevant in Durham, where Dr. Lewis says 70% of students rely on the buses.

Wake County Public School System:

Lisa Luten, spokesperson for Wake County Public Schools, says the district does not have a policy related to canceling school for weather.

"These are all judgment calls," she said.

As for the decision to cancel school today, she said that was made because of "the uncertainty of when the weather was going to come in."

Luten noted that a key consideration is ice on the roads.

"Our buses start hitting the road a little after 4 a.m.," she said. "Our buses ride on neighborhood streets, primarily."

The district examines: Will there be ice on the roads when buses hit the roads? How much? When will that melt?   

Canceling vs. remote learning

Remote learning days are also an option for school systems, although state law only allows a maximum of five remote learning days per district per school year. 

State law requires 1,025 hours of instructional time annually. School calendars schedule more learning time than that, so that some days can be canceled for weather without having to make up classroom time later.