Parents frustrated over school districts cancelling classes late



MILWAUKEE CO. (WITI) -- As the biggest snow storm of the season held its grip on southeast Wisconsin, many school districts cancelled class on Wednesday, February 27th. But other districts waited until the last minute to cancel classes -- which frustrated parents.

For Greenfield High School parent Rebecca Lemke, that call came too late.

"I'm already almost halfway to taking my son to 60th and Layton," said Lemke. "I was mad. I'm like, they could have let me know way earlier."

Milwaukee Public Schools closed for the first time since 2010. Many area superintendents admit they wait to see what MPS does -- and then they make the call.

Wednesday morning, MPS voted for a snow day just after 5 a.m. More than an hour later however, other schools still had not pulled the trigger.

""It's ridiculous that they didn't let us know. We should have been notified...at least by 6:15," said Lemke.

The same thing happened in Greendale School District. School Superintedent John Tharp told FOX6 News the district tries to notify all parents by 6 a.m., but on Wednesday that just didn't happen. Parents weren't notified until nearly 7 a.m. -- many in mid-commute.

School bus drivers were also left in limbo on Wednesday morning.

"They finally made the right call, but they should have made it earlier so that us drivers would know," said Schari Drake, Oak Creek bus driver.

Why these schools waited so long to make the call is still an open question. Greenfield officials say they normally wait to see what other schools do. Greendale officials say they thought the weather was cooperating early this morning -- but it actually was just getting worse. By the time they realized how bad it was, the clock was already ticking.