"It was a difficult decision:" Despite bitter cold, some area schools choose to continue classes



MILWAUKEE/WEST ALLIS (WITI) -- The state's largest school district canceled classes today because of the cold temperatures -- but not everyone followed suit. West Milwaukee Middle School is one of the districts that decided to stay open on Thursday, January 8th.

Just a few hours ago parents came to pick up their kids at West Milwaukee Middle School because the West Allis/West Milwaukee School District was open today, despite some kids and parents wishes.

As FOX6 News learned today, the decision on whether to cancel classes or not is never easy, but today, it was especially difficult for some.

It's just another day for 2nd graders at Brown Deer Elementary where their hardest decision is choosing skim or regular milk. Little do they know the decision to have them at school today in the first place, wasn't easy.

"I was really close to considering closing because we are a first tier suburb of Milwaukee, however our attendance has been okay yesterday and I figured it was all right to move forward today but it was a difficult decision," said Superintendent, Dr. Deb Kerr.

Brown Deer is just one of many school districts in the area that decided to open its doors despite the cold temperatures outside.

To get the decision, they ask questions like:

Can kids get to school safely?
Can the buses run effectively?
Are the buildings able to be heated properly?

Since the answers were all 'yes', the classes were held. But not every one was happy with the decision.

"I was upset because it's too cold for the kids," said Mary Reinke.

Mary Reinke decided to keep her kids home from their West Milwaukee schools, even though they too were open.

"I don't feel like just because you have all the equipment you need as a child its going to make you safe because you are out in that weather," said Reinke.

Mary's not the only one, several school districts report missing students for that reason. And many of those superintendents, like Kerr, don't have a problem with that.

"In the long run what happens is we respect parents' decision not to send their children to school on days like this and we do excuse them if they're not here," said Dr. Kerr.

Kerr says the superintendents in the area work together to come up with a cohesive decision.

The same is true for this district, the West Allis/West Milwaukee superintendent says they were all on a conference call at 4 a.m. Thursday morning making the decision together.