Erin Hunt’s house feels louder than usual.
The mom of three hears the televisions vibrating through the walls, video games clacking on the XBox, and the constant swirl of doors as her kids rumble through the house.
Normally, her kids would be in class, but after a winter storm surged through North Texas, many districts — including Rockwall ISD, where Hunt’s kids attend — decided to close for several days. Announcements circulated through social media, automated phone calls and website banners: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Then, to some parents’ dismay, Thursday too.
The decision has stirred mixed emotions among parents. Some say the closures were necessary, because the roads were still too icy for students to safely make it to class. For other parents, canceled classes resulted in frustration as they struggled to juggle work with looking after kids.
The Education Lab
Even as temperatures warmed Wednesday, some districts said residential areas remained hazardous. School buildings were sound, but parking lots and sidewalks remained slick with ice or choked with snow. Dallas ISD canceled class Thursday due to ice on parking lots and walkways, which needed more time to melt, a spokesperson said.
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A handful of districts, like Duncanville ISD, Fort Worth ISD and Lancaster ISD, reopened Thursday.
Disruption to routine
For Hunt, who works from home as a buyer, a week of no school felt like a blast to the past — a return to the pandemic life. With five heads under one roof, balancing her job and child care has been challenging, but she’s managed, she said.
“The ability to focus changes,” Hunt said. “I’m pulled. I’m not giving the same amount of attention to either that I feel like I should. There’s a sort of guilt that comes with that.”
But the snow week has also provided the Hunts with quality family time. For example, her kids plopped themselves in a storage tub — a makeshift sled — and skidded down the driveway over and over.
“It’s been nice to slow down and reset and not have to be out every single day and night with our normal schedule,” she said.
Da’Brianna Burley, a Dallas ISD parent, said her five-year-old son with verbal autism is used to running on schedule: waking up at 6 a.m., getting dressed, then walking to school.
But changes in his routine can lead to changes in his mood, his mother observed.
“It’s all about reassurance, just like when you teach them how to walk,” she said. “That’s how I managed.”
Safety is top priority, some parents say
The storm has affected everyone differently, Burley said, but she took the cancellations as an opportunity to spend time with her children. Dallas ISD made the right decision to prioritize safety, she said.
“Education is important, but those days can be made up. Out here in this weather, a life can’t be made up,” she said.
A maintenance worker clears snow near Preston Elementary school in Allen ISD.
Courtesy of Allen ISD
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Harper Weaver, father of a first grader and a third grader in Plano ISD, agreed that districts should err on the side of caution, he said. Even as temperatures rose above freezing, streets in his East Plano cul-de-sac remained frozen over, he said.
Weaver has been occupied with playing board games with his kids and nursing them in their battle against strep throat. Plus, with his family’s strict rules on screen time, his kids are making good use of their Christmas presents: plenty of books.
“I’m one of the loudest critics of Plano ISD,” Weaver said. “But I think that they made the right call here.”
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In Duncanville ISD, icy roads persist
Duncanville ISD was among the few districts in North Texas open Thursday. Crews worked “diligently to prepare streets and parking lots for safe travel,” but urged caution in some areas, it said in a statement on its website.
Duncanville ISD parent Cecilia Murillo said reopening was the wrong decision. Police closed a street in front of the Bilhartz Elementary School, where her child attends, due to ice Thursday, she said.
It took about 42 minutes in her truck to drop off her son, instead of the usual four-minute trip. She even saw a car spin out of control as it descended the hill, she said.
Duncanville ISD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While Erin Hunt thinks closures are necessary for safety, she wishes districts had more resources, like snow plows, to respond to extreme weather conditions.
“It’s not like you had time to book a trip and go somewhere,” she said. “You’re waiting day by day. So every day, you’re not sure if you’re on or off tomorrow.”
For most North Texas families, the wait is over as districts that were closed Thursday, including Dallas ISD, announced plans to reopen Friday.
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.