MURRAY, NEB. – With the recent snow days and late starts throughout the area, I bet you are wondering how these decisions are made. Superintendent, Micheal Apple, was able to share further information on what goes into this decision making.

Apple determines whether or not we have a snow day or a late start, but many factors are put into play when coming to this conclusion. If Apple is out of town when it comes to finding a verdict, he would assign Rob Giese or Cole Wills to be in charge.

“When you have a combination of weather it can make things much worse,”says Apple.
Apple discussed what is considered when making the call. He said that, overall, it depends on what type of weather is coming. The students and other drivers can tolerate snow but when it comes to wind, it plays a big factor into what the school day will look like.

Apple states that “when we let school out, it subtracts the amount of days we have left based on hours.”
You might be wondering how many days we get for snow days but it’s actually based on the amount of hours we are in school. The state of Nebraska has requirements that we have to follow. Elementary school requires 1,032 hours and high school requires 1,080 hours. The winter season has only started, the season can last till April.

“I have to balance the safety of the students,” Apple explains.

Another source that is used when making the decision for a snow day is NOAA. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website shows charts that describe the upcoming weather reports.