When bad weather hits, Warren County School District officials have work to do.

At Monday’s regular meeting of the school board, Superintendent Amy Stewart went over how the district decides on school delays and cancellations. Stewart and Transportation Manager Mike Kiehl are the front line on that decision.

“He has a set of contacts that he is in touch with,” Stewart said. “The goal is to make the first call (if there will be a delay or cancellation) by 5 a.m.”

Waiting longer means some of the drivers will have already started their routes. Any visits, calls, and research have to be done before that time.

“All of that work has to be done between the hours of 3:30 and 5 a.m.,” she said.

Sometimes, it’s an easy decision. Sometimes, not.

“Sometimes you’re able to make the call based on what is actually happening,” Stewart said. “That’s the easy part.”

When there is a chance of problematic weather striking after the initial decisions have to be made the calls are more difficult.

“We have to make the decisions we can,” she said.

Then, there are times when conditions in one area of the district are just fine while another area is seeing heavy snow or ice.

“The weather in Sheffield is very different from the weather we see in the western part of the county,” Stewart said.

The mere presence of snow or cold temperatures is not enough to trigger a delay or cancellation.

“Sometimes, there are folks that think just because it’s snowing, we should cancel school,” Stewart said.

In a typical year, that would mean the cancellation of weeks of school.,

Likewise, the district doesn’t have a cut-off temperature where it automatically cancels school.

“We can get into a month-long stint of cold weather where the temperature might be below zero,” she said.

Visibility, wind, and others can play a role in the decisions.

One factor carries more weight than the others.

“Ice is usually the deal-breaker,” Stewart said.

The district will continue to face decisions related to the Warren County climate and deal with them as they arise.

“It’s not an exact science, that’s for sure.”

Stewart said extreme cold caused some damages to district facilities over the holiday break.

“The weather around Christmas time was difficult for us,” she said. “We had some pipes break. Our facilities experience the same sort of stresses that homes do.”