On a day which saw bitterly cold windchills and canceled classes across much of Wisconsin, at least one superintendent is defending the decision to keep schools in his district open.
"The fact that we are a public school, and we are chartered and obligated to hold school for our children on a certain number of days of the year, and if it's possible to do without directly jeopardizing their welfare and safety," explained Beaver Dam Unified School District Superintendent Don Childs in explaining his reasoning for delaying classes by two hours, rather than closing.
Childs says the district's trigger point for closing is the windchill reaching 35 below. This morning, he checked with Weather Central in Madison and learned the windchill was just 27 below, which Childs calls "uncomfortable, not unsafe."