This morning's fog caused school delays and cancellations in several districts in Kosciusko County, bringing up the question: Who decides when to delay or cancel school, and how do they decide?

In the Kosciusko County area, it is the superintendents of each school corporation who make the final decision.

Dr. Mark Stock, Wawasee Schools superintendent, said he is one of three people who get up around 4 a.m. and drive the roads to check on conditions.

Stock, along with Wawasee's transportation director, Bob Lahrman, and business manager, Jim Evans, check out different areas of the school district, then the three meet at the office and compare notes.

Dan Kramer, Tippecanoe Valley superintendent, and Dr. Jeff Hendrix, Whitko superintendent, also drive, while Dave McGuire, Warsaw superintendent, works off the recommendations of the Warsaw transportation director, who in turn relies on four bus drivers to check the roads.

All superintendents said they check reports from the Indiana State Police and the Kosciusko County Sheriff's and highway departments, and weather reports from the national weather service.

They also call other school systems to see what conditions are like in other areas.

"If the county highway department says they will have the roads cleared in a couple of hours, then we call a delay," McGuire said. "Typically we try to delay rather than cancel, otherwise there would be several thousand kids that would be home alone."

All the superintendents said they try to make the decision by 6 a.m. so radio and TV stations, bus drivers and teachers can be notified early.

"The biggest problem is timing," Stock said. "To make any decision, we try to be done by 5:45 (a.m.)."

But conditions change fast, which is why delays sometimes turn into cancellations.

"By 5:30 or 6 (a.m.), you can have one set of conditions," Kramer said. "By 7:30 or 8 (a.m.), it can be totally different."

He added that icy conditions can make even waiting for the bus - near a road in the dark - dangerous, and a delay of a couple of hours can make a big difference in road conditions - and daylight.

"Sometimes just letting the business traffic get done will help," he said.

If weather conditions are questionable, Stock said, "a lot of schools will call a delay, and that gives them two hours to study it more on whether to cancel."

If a delay is called, he said, during that time the administrators and transportation director watch weather reports and road conditions constantly until they decide whether or not to cancel school.

"It's a tough call. You can't win," Stock said. "If you base all your actions on what the weatherman says, he's wrong half the time."

Some parents object when school is not canceled on snowy days because high school students who drive to school may not be proficient at driving on slick roads.

McGuire said the decision for the student to drive is the parents', not the school's.

"That's the family's call," he said. "The student may be uncomfortable on a bus, but they'll be safer."

He bases his decision on whether or not a professional driver - a bus driver - would have problems.

Stock agrees that it's up to the parents whether or not a high school student drives to school in adverse weather.

But Wawasee Schools goes one step further, he said: "If a parent feels that it is unsafe for a child to drive to school or ride the bus, it will be counted as an excused absence, as long as the student gets to school as soon as possible."

Tippecanoe Valley, which covers 200 square miles, has a similar policy, Kramer said.

"The thing that we really look at is the safety factor," Kramer said. "We truly try to do the best for our kids in the interest of safety." [[In-content Ad]]