Subzero temperatures forecasted for Tuesday, Jan. 21 led many students to anticipate a school closure. No announcement came, and instead, families saw a notice on the school website stating “D219 Schools are Open on Tuesday, January 21.”

District administration follows strict guidelines when making decisions about weather-based school cancellations.

“The standard used by almost all of the area schools, as most were in session, other than those with some transportation anomalies, is for the “feels like” temperature to be -30 or lower for an extended period of time. In effect, there has to be a standard to follow or it is all guesswork,” District 219 Superintendent Thomas Moore said.

The wind chill Tuesday morning at O’Hare Airport was -26 degrees at 7:51 a.m. according to the National Weather Service. Though many people who have grown up in the Chicago area are accustomed to the cold, the sub-zero temperatures appeared to be responsible for substantial absences from school. Those absences are counted as “excused.”

“[Yesterday] was intense. It was the average amount of absences times five,” attendance secretary Priscilla Reyes said.

Though unable to divulge exact figures due to legal restrictions, the attendance office was taken aback by the number of absences reported, especially those that specified it was due to the extreme cold.

“When people call in, they have been admitting that it is because of the cold,” attendance secretary Yudit Krupinski said.

Teachers also felt a general lack of motivation and fatigue in their classrooms. French teacher Elizabeth Hinsinger adjusted her lesson plan.

“I started with [a social and emotional learning] bell ringer asking students how they felt, and many students mentioned that they either felt really tired or they were just disappointed that other districts in the area didn’t have school, but we did,” Hinsinger said.

Evanston Township High School was closed, and Chicago Public Schools were closed for a previously scheduled institute day.

Senior Yohanna Endashaw woke up early Tuesday morning in hopes of seeing a school cancellation message.

“I woke up at 5:00 a.m. driven by the hope that I would be blessed with an empty day. Unfortunately, I would be disappointed. After an hour in my bed, refreshing my email, waiting for any announcement that we wouldn’t have school, at 6:30 a.m., I realized my fate was sealed,” Endashaw said.

Endashaw also expressed concern about students who may not have access to transportation to school.

“[This decision] has shown severe disregard for students of lower economic classes who might not have the means or the resources to be able to make it to school without walking,” Endashaw said.

However, Moore takes this into consideration when making the decision.

“We always take everything into account, especially our student background- in fact, this is a reason, across the country, why schools typically try to stay open. We don’t know what home conditions are like, but we know schools are safe and warm. As for transportation, we have a very low percentage of students who walk, and we make bus transportation available. Since the elementary schools are in session, it is difficult to argue that younger children should be in schools but older students shouldn’t,” Moore said.