News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Lincoln Elementary School begins to get covered with snow on Thursday. Alpena Public Schools officials test-drive roads and communicate with the county Road Commission when deciding whether or not to call off school during poor winter weather. The district also often cancels classes if the temperature hits minus-25 degrees or colder.

ALPENA — Before officials at Alpena Public Schools decide to close school because of snow and ice, they venture out in the early morning hours to check road conditions for themselves and consult with nearby school districts and road commissions before making a decision, district officials said in a news release.

No matter what the school system decides the best course of action is, APS says parents of students are the best judge for their individual situation.

In a news release Thursday, the school district said that, when there is a snow or ice storm, the district’s superintendent, transportation director, and others drive on what are considered some of the most challenging roads around the county to check the conditions. After that, they utilize weather alerts and forecasts from the National Weather Service and local road commission staff to decide whether to send the buses out or call school off for the day.

Alpena does not delay the start of the school day like other school districts because of the size of the district and amount of time the buses would be on the road, often in less-than-stellar weather conditions.

“Please remember that conditions may vary drastically across our 640 (square-mile) service area,” the press release said. “We don’t do delayed starts like some smaller districts can, due to the time it takes to make two full runs around Alpena County to pick up students. It doesn’t allow enough time to meet the state instructional time requirements for a school day. Each bus run is a total of about 700 miles of driving by our outstanding drivers.”

Local schools also take temperature into consideration if schools should open or not. The press release says there isn’t a policy that dictates a certain temperature that mandates a school closure, but it says a sustained temperature of negative-25, with or without windchill, is typically when classes in Alpena are canceled.

If officials decide to keep schools open, they do not want parents to feel pressured to send their children to school if they are uneasy about it or believe the conditions are unsafe.

“We would like to remind our families that you are the best judge of the conditions at your individual location,” the press release said. “As a parent, it is your right to decide if it is safe for your child to attend based on your individual situation. Please call the school to excuse your child if you decide it isn’t safe for them to attend. Families that keep their child home should be sure to find out about work that was missed and make it up like they would for any absence.”