After a week of anticipation, the snowstorm finally arrived on Wednesday, delivering over three inches of snow and a night-long downpour of freezing rain. Everyone woke up, shoveled the driveways, and turned on the local news to see which schools closed, but BSM did not appear on that list.
This came as no surprise to the students, who last year didn’t receive a snow day even after eight inches of snow fell to the ground. However, in both instances, BSM should have cancelled school.
Skidding, swerving, and more importantly, crashes must become a greater concern for the administration rather than making sure the school calender remains the same. Minnesota schools should be much more cautious when it comes to evaluating road conditions, especially after the recent deaths of four college students due to bad weather.
After traveling back home on break, four girls from North Dakota State died in a tragic car crash brought on by another snowstorm. Most likely the heavy snow, dense fog, and the strong winds, caused them to skid across the median of highway 94 and crash into an oncoming car.
The Wednesday storm provided slushy, slippery roads that caused 139 spin-outs and 73 accidents during the morning commute. It’s understandable that rescheduling school days can be difficult and inconvenient, but that should be no reason to put around 400 lives at stake driving through a snow storm.
BSM did start classes twenty minutes late, but only students already at school heard the announcement. Besides, twenty minutes is hardly enough time for the iced-over roads to improve. The Edina, Hopkins, and Minnetonka districts all delayed their school days, giving the snowplows more time to salt and plow the roads. The Wayzata school district even cancelled their classes.
Considering a large number of BSM students live in one of the four aforementioned cities, it just shows how necessary a delay or cancellation of school should have been. BSM took an unnecessary risk in asking students to come to school in some of the most dangerous driving conditions we’ve had all winter.
