MCLEAN, Va. — It was a perfect snow day, sliding down the hill at the local elementary school in Fairfax County, Va.
But, there was one universal hope you could feel and hear among the crowd...
"We want no school tomorrow," agreed a bunch of boys sledding for the day behind Lemon Road Elementary in McLean and part of the huge Fairfax County Public School district.
Fairfax County Public Schools, the 10th largest in the country, has about 187,830 students and 198 schools.
That's a lot of snow to clear, to make sure a lot of student can get to school.
The person responsible is Jeffrey Platenberg, the assistant superintendent for facilities and transportation.
SCHOOL CLOSINGS/DELAYS
"Getting the plows out, getting the teams out, we not only do it with out staff, but we have a whole array of partners that we use," said Platenberg.
Early Monday morning, school custodians and other workers were out shoveling walkways and clearing school parking lots. And, they also have to get the snow off the tops of 1,600 buses.
"When we have 10 inches of snow on top, that's a lot of mass that could come off," Platenberg explained.
Bright sunshine and temperatures above freezing helped a lot. Predictions were made.
"I bet we're probably going to have school. Because they already cleared the roads."
But even if all the streets look great and the parking lots are cleared, they still need all the sidewalks and pathways cleared for the 40,000 FCPS students who walk to school.
"Even after we get schools ready, people will say, 'hey, my road's fine.' The school looks great. But we drive around the neighborhoods too. If it's not safe for our students to be navigating the pathways up and to the school, that's a consideration and sometimes people don't understand when we close school for that as well," said Platenberg.
At around 5:30 p.m. Platenberg and other school officials decided to go with a two-hour delay. But it could change to a closure.
Monday and Tuesday morning Platenberg will consult with meteorologists like WUSA9's Topper Shutt. He said if it refreezes to make roads and walkways unsafe, he'll close schools again.
Safety first, safety second, and safety third is the goal, said Platenberg.
Often Fairfax starts with a two-hour delays, to buy some time to monitor the situation. That could very well happen tomorrow morning around 6 a.m.