District superintendent defends decision to keep schools open during extreme cold, urges social-media civility

Superintendent Robert McBride told the Lockport Township High School District 205 board that the decision to keep schools open during a recent extreme-cold event relied on three factors: alignment with feeder districts, specific weather metrics, and the district’s operational capacity.

“We start with collaboration with our feeder districts,” McBride said, adding that many neighboring districts chose to remain in person and that aligning decisions reduces family disruption across household grade levels. He also cited attendance data from other districts, saying attendance there ran "about 60 to 75%" during e-learning days and adding that in-person instruction remains the district’s default when it can be run safely. “I just think our mission is to keep schools open,” McBride said.

McBride described the district’s published weather metric — taken from National Weather Service guidance — that flags conditions unsafe to be outside (a combination cited as roughly minus-10 degrees ambient and minus-25 wind chill in the district’s materials) and said the operations team had nearly all buses running and buildings checked. He said the district conducted early-morning calls with feeder superintendents and that staff and mechanics worked overnight to maintain vehicles and facilities.

Board members discussed alternative responses, including late starts, and several trustees said they preferred alignment with feeder districts to avoid logistical problems for families who have students in multiple schools. One trustee suggested examining the temperature threshold used to declare closures.

McBride also raised concern about the tone of social media following the weather decision. He urged adults in the community to model respectful behavior online, warning that "if suddenly tomorrow all of the adults in the building began yelling, swearing...it wouldn't be long until our students would do the same thing." He said the district will develop clearer community guidelines for its social feeds and continue staff training on policy and law related to student interviews, records and law-enforcement contacts.

On school calendars, administrators presented two draft two-year calendars that meet Illinois statutory requirements (a 176-day minimum) and discussed potentially aligning a school-improvement (non-attendance) day with the religious observance Eid so students could be excused. Trustees asked staff to refine calendars with student input and feeder-district coordination before a final vote.

The board did not take formal action on closure policy changes during the meeting; McBride said district staff would incorporate board feedback and return with recommendations.