How are school closing decisions made during icy, snowy weather? Voting privacy lacking? Votes needed to win a primary seat? • Asheville Watchdog
Publish Date: 2026-03-03 07:04:00
Source Domain: avlwatchdog.org
Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers:
Question: With winter weather comes school closings and delays. With school closings and delays, parents scramble to figure out transportation and/or childcare, sometimes at the last minute. And there is concern over making sure instructional time is not lost, unless there’s a great snow to play in and then who cares about school! Of course, the top priority is the safety of students getting to school, but sometimes it seems they could safely get to school when school is canceled. I’m sure there’s more to the process than I am aware of, so hopefully you can get to the bottom of it! While Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools often close/delay in tandem, they don’t always, and there seems to be the possibility of closing only a portion of BCS (attendance) districts. Is there a transparent process of how ACS and BCS make the determination to delay or cancel school, or determine no buses on icy roads? Who decides to cancel or delay school? Are there set guidelines on what time the call should be made?
My answer: Of course by answering this question this week, when the temps are supposed to hit the 70s this week, I’m jinxing us to at least one more snow or ice storm. You’re welcome in advance.
Real answer: Naturally, both school systems say safety is the top concern in these situations. And making these calls is not easy.
“On inclement weather mornings, a dedicated team of more than a dozen district BCS transportation team members conduct early-morning travel assessments across all of the school system’s attendance zones,” Buncombe County Schools spokesperson Ken Ulmer said via email. “This process begins between 3:30 and 4:00 a.m. to ensure a decision is made before 5:15 a.m., when the first buses begin their routes.”
Buncombe County Schools operates 208 buses, transporting about 10,000 students daily, racking up more than 15,000…
