It was a close call Monday night, but ultimately it was the road conditions that caused Superintendent Matt Hickam to close the Du Quoin schools on Tuesday, he said.
Hickam, the first-year superintendent at Unit District 300, said he and others drove around the district Monday night assessing the situation. The main roads were not terrible, but once he got onto side streets and rural roads the conditions deteriorated, with a slippery layer of sleet.
He made the decision to cancel school sometime after 10 p.m., sending a text message to all the district staff and parents.
"It's my call," whether the schools close or remain open in bad weather, Hickam said. He doesn't make the decision in a vacuum, however -- he and other area superintendents consulted with each other throughout Monday evening.
"I talk to our neighbors all around us to see what they are thinking," he said. On Monday, Du Quoin, Pinckneyville and Nashville were the three latest holdouts, before ultimately deciding to pull the trigger.
Hickam said there's more to the decision than just whether the buses can run and how long students might have to stand out in the cold waiting -- although those are important considerations.
"A good number of our students, if they are here in school they are warm and are going to be fed," Hickam said. Also, calling off school means a lot of working parents have to scramble to make arrangements on short notice.
The other consideration on Monday, Hickam said, was how early in the winter it still is, and the uncertainty of how many other snow days might have to be called.
"This early (in the season) you try to hold school if you can," he added.
A middle school basketball game scheduled for Monday evening was canceled, and the annual Veterans Breakfast at the grade school on Tuesday morning was postponed.
Hickam expects the breakfast will be rescheduled, although he doesn't know when yet.
