Forecast dire for kids seeking snow day

Spokane kids just can’t catch a break.

Even the biggest winter storm in four years – a storm that closed many schools in North Idaho and some in Eastern Washington – failed to produce a snow day.

It was business as usual for Spokane Public Schools, as well as schools in Spokane Valley, Mead and other districts.

In fact, this year’s Spokane high school sophomores have never missed school because of the weather. The last snow day was during Ice Storm 1996, which left much of Spokane without power for part of that November.

On a snowy day like Wednesday, “we are not going to close,” said Jason Conley, director of transportation for Spokane Public Schools.

So what’s it going to take?

“If we got so much snow over a prolonged period and it was so deep students were not able to walk safely on the sidewalk – then, maybe,” Conley said.

That, or temperatures so bitter it’s dangerous to be outside.

Well-prepared bus drivers are the bane of students looking for a free day.

And drivers with First Student, the company that runs Spokane school buses, were out at 3:30 a.m., installing chains and checking routes, Conley said. There were few delays.

But those drivers don’t have to contend with some of the challenges faced in the boondocks.

“We don’t have the blowing and drifting snow you are going to have on rural roads,” Conley said.

Administrators for the three major Kootenai County districts – Coeur d’Alene, Lakeland and Post Falls – decided to close early in the morning.

Post Falls Superintendent Jerry Keane said it was his district’s first snow day this winter. Students there missed one day last spring, when high winds knocked down trees and power lines and three of the district’s buildings lost power.

Brayden Menti was one of those enviable Post Falls kids.

“All right!” were the first words out of his 9-year-old mouth when he heard school was canceled. He was most excited about missing math.

And what about those poor kids in Spokane?

“They’re unlucky,” Brayden acknowledged.

JR Ramos went back to bed after learning there’d be no school at Lakeland Junior High in Rathdrum.

By late morning, 13-year-old Ramos was pulling on his snow gear and heading out to build forts with his next-door neighbor.

“I had a lot of homework, and I didn’t get it done,” Ramos said.

Here’s some solace for Spokane and Spokane Valley students feeling slighted:

Because they had Wednesday off, summer vacation will be one day shorter for kids like Ramos and Menti.