SPOKANE, Wash. — Wednesday's snowstorm didn't pack the punch that was expected in the morning hours when tens of thousands of Spokane students started the school day. By the mid-afternoon pick-up, Mother Nature had more than made up for her lackluster showing.
"You can't see nothing," said Hamblen Elementary parent Eli Churkin as he brushed snow from his windshield. "It's like snow mixed with rain."
Churkin showed up Wednesday afternoon to collect his second grader after the pummeling of powder made for a tricky trip from the lower South Hill.
"Weather's pretty crazy so it was a little tough to get in here," he said.
After a brief break in the morning, snowfall didn't let up until early Wednesday evening. Many roads, including near school zones in Spokane, had packed snow.
It made Churkin's short drive a little more difficult.
"About ten to twelve minutes without traffic," he said of the normal commute to Hamblen. "Right now because of this weather traffic's pretty insane so it took me 40 minutes."
Spokane Public Schools Superintendent, Adam Swinyard, said when the district made the pre-dawn decision not to cancel classes, safety was the top factor taken into account.
"That includes when the accumulation is gonna start, how much is gonna accumulate and the extent to which the city and county are prepared," Swinyard said of other things the district takes into account when calling a snow day.
Another reason not to cancel: what school can mean for hundreds of students.
"We have a number of kids that rely on SPS for breakfast and lunch meals, in addition to having a warm place to go," Swinyard added.
Not every parent or guardian gets a snow day from work, another piece of the analysis for SPS. Calling off school can often put those families in an even tougher situation, Swinyard said.
It's why absences were excused on Wednesday, allowing each family to make the best decision for themselves.
"And we know with every decision we have stakeholders who maybe wish there would've been a snow day," Swinyard said.
It's an option Churkin may take advantage of depending on the forecast for the rest of the week.
"If it's gonna be the same as today I don't see the point risking taking my kid to school," he said.
Mead and Central Valley School Districts also declined to cancel classes on Wednesday; emails and calls to those districts to ask about the decision-making process were not returned.
SPS and Mead did cancel all after-school activities and events.
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