This month, the Richmond School District decided it was in everyone’s best interest to cancel school on numerous days after our area received heavy winter storms combining snow, frigid temperatures and freezing rain. A total of nine scheduled school days of learning were interrupted due to inclement weather during January. Many factors are often considered when determining school cancellations and I would like to take you through some of those key elements when administrators have to make these impactful decisions. Items to analyze include predicted weather forecasts, the timing of decisions, mechanical operations, student transportation and safety of students, faculty and staff. Freezing Rain It is much trickier to forecast than snow and can be more dangerous than snow depending on accumulation. Even a mere quarter inch of ice in the forecast warrants ice storm warnings. From my personal experience, freezing rain is a slam dunk for school closure in almost all cases because even…