Minnesota Governor Leaves School Closures to Local Officials

ST. PAUL (AP) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz won't close schools statewide despite the extremely cold temperatures forecast for Tuesday through Thursday.

The governor's office said Monday that he'll defer instead to local school districts to decide about closures.

But he says parents and students should pay close attention to the local news and messages from their school districts on closure information.

Former Gov. Mark Dayton used his authority to close schools statewide once in January 2014 because of extreme cold. Former Gov. Arne Carlson did it three times in the 1990s.

Temperatures are forecast to plunge below minus 30 degrees with wind chills below negative 60 in parts of Minnesota on Wednesday morning.