The upper Midwest fought through bitterly cold temperatures early last week which prompted some schools to start school 2 hours late or cancel school all together.  St. Cloud School Superintendent Laurie Putnam joined me on WJON.  She says the threshold that she and the other metro area Superintendents arrived at is 35 degrees below zero either surface temperature or wind chill.  Putnam explains that is measured in the St. Cloud community.  She says the 2-hour late start determination last week was based on the the hourly forecast which indicated temperatures rising from -35 at 8 am to -25 by 10am.

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Putnam indicates their commitment is to make the best decision for all the students, families and staff that are affected.  She says if parents don't agree with the decision made by the district they can call and excuse their child. Putnam indicates the first snow/cold day used is a full give or what we knew as a true snow day that would not be made up or include e-learning.  She says the next 2 days would be e-learning days and 2 additional days (if needed) would be determined by the board in regards to whether they would need to be made up.

Putnam indicates this is their kick off week to educate the community about the 2 Apollo referendum questions that will be on the ballot for St. Cloud School District 742 residents on April 8. They did a soft launch last week where they met with realtors and the Apollo staff. Apollo Principal Justin Skaalerud and Putnam will do 7 presentations and a total of 65 presentations will be done on this topic with 15 of those public.  They are making many of these presentations available on their website.

 

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Laurie Putnam, it is available below.

 

 

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