When snow falls, school officials head out to monitor conditions

While others are still curled up in warm beds on cold winter mornings, a few people from Bigfork School District are already on the road.

Starting around 5 a.m., Superintendent Russ Kinzer, business manager Eda Taylor and bus mechanic Mike Tharp hit the streets of the district on blustery days to check conditions and see if routes need to be changed or school needs to be closed.

The last time school was closed, Jan. 5, it was a later start, as the trio had to dig out their vehicles.

These early mornings have occurred half a dozen times this winter, and are usually contingent on weather predictions the night before. They keep an eye on the percent chance of snow, 60 or more usually means they'll need to watch the roads. They also look at wind factors and whether it will snow, warm and then freeze after raining as it did last week.

The main criteria they look at are ice conditions and visibility.

Kinzer said closing school last week was a "pretty easy call," especially with how fast the snow was coming down. They knew the plows wouldn't be able to keep up, and several main roadways were covered with a slick slush.

Even Kinzer, an experienced driver who has traveled these roads often, missed the turn onto Montana Highway 209 because of visibility and slush conditions.

Tharp and Kinzer try to drive in two-wheel drive until they have to switch to four-wheel drive. It's usually a good indicator of how the district's 10 or so buses will be able to handle the roads.

"If we can do it in two, we know the buses can," Kinzer said. "All of our drivers are good and used to driving Montana winter roads. It's unbelievable what they can navigate, but we don't want to put anyone at risk."

The decision isn't always black and white though, he said. Sometimes different parts of the district are more navigable than others.

"The tricky decisions come when part of the district has very poor driving conditions other areas are normal," Kinzer said.

Montana law requires that public schools be in session for a minimum number of instructional hours. The schedule has a few snow days built in, so students may not have to make up time for last week's snow day. Kinzer will make that call in February, depending on conditions and whether he has had to close the schools again between now and then.

On the mornings they have to check the roads, the trio splits the routes and hits key spots that are known to cause trouble. Taylor takes Swan River Road and Highway 209 through Ferndale. Tharp hits the northern parts of the district, while Kinzer covers most of the south, including neighborhoods in Crestview, Lake Hills and Peaceful Acres.

They all communicate via radio on conditions, but can usually anticipate early what they will be. They are also communicating by phone or radio with Transportation Director Reenie Clock who lives in Somers to give her an idea of what roads are like.

The school district also has a list of spotters including staff members and board members that can be called to check different areas as needed.

Last week, Tharp and Kinzer both reported trees down and heavy snow on powerlines that made them nervous.

"There was a lot of icy slush on the road and trees blocking different traffic lanes," Kinzer said.

Kinzer makes the decision to close school, but Clock can also make calls to shorten or adjust routes based on conditions. This call is supposed to be made by no later than 6:30 a.m. Bus route changes in the afternoon are made by 1 p.m.

While those are the official decision makers, Kinzer emphasizes that all of those people out on the road spotting on a given day contribute to the outcome.

"It's a team effort to make the decision," Kinzer said.

In other districts, some superintendents depend on others to tell them the road conditions. Kinzer likes getting out and experiencing them before making a decision.

"It can be such a tough call," he said. "I don't feel comfortable relying on someone else. I want to see it myself."

The early mornings can be rough and make for long days, Kinzer said.

"It catches up to me," he said.

Once the buses start rolling, there's no calling them back, he said, unless there is an extreme emergency, such as a call from the state that no one should be on the roads. Otherwise, kids, whose parents think they will be picked up, may be left out alone in the cold.

"Once people believe we are in session, we have an obligation to make sure 'students' are transferred to school," Kinzer said.

A lot of that depends on the severity of the winter and the timing of storms.

"If I'm lucky, they happen on the weekends or holidays," Kinzer said.

Even when school is in session, Kinzer said parents can still make their own call about whether the roads are safe.

"If parents feel it's unsafe for students to go to school, then that's their decision to make," Kinzer said. "We're going to understand that"

The district used to rely on reporting to the County Superintendent's Office to get the word out about closures. They still do that, but now are encouraging parents to listen to KIBG-BIG100 Radio, or 100.7 FM, or visit the school district's Web page, www.bigfork.k12.mt.us, and click on "District Office," to check on whether school is in session or not. This decision came after a variety of sources and radio stations were reporting different information. This way is simpler and clearer for parents, he said.

"We decided to just do one," Kinzer said. "We've found that people are using that as an information source."

They also man the phone at the district office for a while to answer calls.

They used to get so many calls they couldn't answer them all, but after clarifying what sources people should go to for information, they've had less than a dozen calls each time on average.