How Much Snow to Cancel School in Missouri? It’s Very Complicated

Just in case you think it's easy being a school administrator, it's very much not and this is one example of why. The question gets asked all the time "how much snow does it take to cancel school in Missouri?". The answer is much more complicated than you think.

One of the main places I see people refer to when they're talking about snow days is this one shared on Reddit many years ago.

How much snow it typically takes to cancel school in the U.S. [OC] [1513x983]
byu/atrubetskoy inMapPorn

It's a map that shows (in general) how many inches of snow is required to cancel school. I'll save you some time squinting to point out that they claim most of Missouri is 3 inches or more which (to be brutally honest) is absurd.

I have had many friends and family serve on school boards and have been fortunate to speak directly with many school administrators in my career and the answer to how much snow it takes to cancel school is there is no one amount that decides that. I have known many school decision people who will get up and go out in their own vehicle at 4 in the morning to see what roads and visibility are like before deciding if school gets called off for that day.

It's an even more complicated decision in Missouri due to the large number of rural roads that are blacktop, gravel and/or don't get plowed immediately. It also depends if an incoming storm is forecast to have freezing rain or ice be a part of it. That alone could cause an early dismissal or cancelation. Most school decision makers I have known would rather make up days in late Spring than take a chance on a student getting injured going to or from school.

There's another factor about canceling school that many people don't understand

Did you know that canceling school can be a problem for students who rely on school lunches for their food? It's a sad reality that food insecurity can weigh heavily on the decision about whether or not school gets called off.

I don't envy those who have to decide if a storm has done enough (or is about to do enough) to cancel school. It's a much harder decision and a complicated one in Missouri to say the least.