Students were excited with a two-day extension after winter break, but the excitement did not end because two weeks later, freezing cold temperatures caused school to be cancelled once again.

School superintendents have the responsibility of deciding whether or not to cancel school if the weather is dangerous.

“Weather providers give us alerts, so we’re constantly sifting through information. In the case of January 6 and 7, there is a point where it is just not safe for kids to be outside,” said Superintendent Dr. Catherine Finger.

Along with Grayslake North, many schools throughout the area were closed during the extreme cold.

“There are 42 districts in Lake County, and as superintendents, we stay connected,” Finger said.

District 127 along with neighboring school districts were all in communication during the cold days and were able to help one another with cancellations and delaying school.

“Our busses are diesel fuel, and any diesel fuel freezes. We were ok with busses, but D46 had an issue. We lent them our busses; that’s why we had a late start day,” Finger said.

The total number of snow days that District 127 has had so far is four. First, January 6 and 7, and most recently, January 27 and 28. The last day of school for seniors is now Thursday, May 15, and for underclassmen, it is Friday, May 30. Seniors are making up one of the four snow days, but as for graduation, it will not be moved. It is possible for superintendents to make the decision to make up snow days on existing days off instead of adding days at the end of the year. Although the school could make this change, District 127 will not be doing that this year.

“Graduation is not really set in stone; every school in the state of Illinois including ours has five emergency days at the end of the school year. For next year’s calendar, we are going to publish ahead of time which days we are going to ask people to reserve as possible make-up days during the year. We talked about whether or not we could waive Casmir Pulaski Day or President’s Day and use those days as make-up, and while we could do that legally, we thought on this short of notice it wasn’t fair to families,” Finger said.

While class agendas shift due to the make-up days, AP exams are national tests and are not moved. Students and teachers alike are affected by the lost time and making sure to have enough preparation.

“Losing time is always an issue, but many of the reading and writing techniques for different sections of the AP Language Exam are instructional goals from the beginning of the year. As a result, when we have snow days, the students and I must work with remaining lessons at a steady, focused pace to reinforce skill sets,” said AP English language and composition teacher Diane Schmitz.

Although the shortage of time becomes stressful for students in AP classes and teachers preparing their students for AP Exams in May, the capability for students to access AP information is readily available even when the school is closed.

“In AP classes, the unfortunate part is you lose a face to face instructional day, but in today’s day and age with technology, you can communicate with your teacher via email or via text, so there are ways to compensate for it if we close school,” said principal Dr. Jim Roscoe.

Some days, when school is not cancelled but snowfall begins throughout the day, other alternatives are considered. Early releases, late starts, activity cancellations, or senior lunch option cancellations are all considered.

“It’s never easy to try and decide the timing of the weather. If we think it’s unsafe to travel, then we’re going to cancel. It’s not worth the risk,” Roscoe said.

Academics are not the only thing affected by the weather. Athletics have also been greatly affected by the extreme cold and snow.

“When you’re setting things in motion and then you’re not there for a few days, as in Monday and Tuesday, that would mean that nobody had any physical activity since Saturday. Then, we come back on Wednesday and have games scheduled which can’t be moved,” said athletic director Tina Woolard.

After cancellations of school and athletic events throughout the season, there are certain restrictions to the athletic program that prevent making up for lost time as with school and classes.

“We can’t extend our season like we would make up school days at the end of the year, because our seasons are determined by IHSA,” Woolard said.

For both athletes and students alike, the loss of learning and practices, while enjoyable at the time, has and will continue to affect them.

“For you to physically be at your best you should continue to practice,” Woolard said.