Schools closed over an inch of snow?

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - With the bad weather, school closings and delays are to be expected. So with a little more snow on the roads its no wonder that over 60 schools had delayed openings Monday morning.

But Dayton Public Schools did something a little different - it closed.

Now some parents are curious how Dayton Public Schools could be closed by just an inch of snow. As it turns out, it was a combination of economic and safety factors at work.

With the cost of road salt at a record high, cities and county street crews have already warned that salt will be used sparingly. Sunday nights snow put down an inch in most spots, and in many areas was the first good example of the conservation of salt we face this winter.

"A lot of things came into play," explained Harry C. Frisby Jr, Executive Director of Safety and Security for the Dayton Public Schools. "The temperature was one of our big factors, because we had ice already on the ground. Then we had snow covering that ice and you put a 4,600 pound bus on that and it can create a problem. And do we want to have that problem, do we want to have a child get hurt? We don't."

The school system picks-up and drops-off about 15,000 students and covers over 1,000 routes a day. Because of this busy busing system, delayed openings can't happen. With such a complex schedule, decisions have to be made early. Usually drivers are out checking the roadways at 1 a.m. and a decision has to be made by 3:30 or sooner.

Simply put, Frisby said when ot comes to Dayton schools, its "school or no school. School or no school. That's it."