The temperature is dropping, snow is falling, and the one thing that all CHS students are wondering is, “Will there be a snow day?” They turn on the TV, staring at the bottom of the screen. When the word “Clayton” finally appears next to the word “CLOSED,” they are elated.

However, there is a decision making process behind those wonderful snowy mornings. Dr. Sharmon Wilkinson, the interim superintendent of the Clayton School District, is in charge of this process and is already preparing for the calling of snow days.

“Since this is my first year, as interim superintendent, I can tell you how it’s worked in the past,” Wilkinson said. “The superintendents in St. Louis Country begin by doing a call with each other. I think there’s around 10 superintendents who are on the call.”

During this call, which sometimes takes place in the wee morning hours, the superintendents look at the weather forecasts, and if the situation is bad enough, call the snow day. Ice tends to increase the chance of a snow day, as travel safety is the most important factor when the decision is made.

Once she decides to call a snow day, Wilkinson contacts Chris Tennill, the communications director at Clayton, who then contacts the television stations.

CHS Principal Louise Losos is surprisingly low in the chain of communication.

“It [the chain of communication] starts with the superintendent,” Losos said ”And then it typically goes to the assistant superintendent, and the chief communications officer, which is Mr. Tennill. He then, once she makes the decision, has a recorded message ready to go.”

However, the decision is not made just on the conditions in Clayton, but also on those in the city of St. Louis.

“Fifteen percent of our students come to us through the volunteer student transfer program,” Wilkinson said. “So you have to think about how if we’re in session, and there is not transportation available to get them to school, then we’d have fifteen percent of our student population not in school.”

Wilkinson also knows that her decision will always be controversial. No matter what choice she makes, someone will always contradict her.

“The reason why this [calling a snow-day] is a difficult decision because it’s a decision that’s a no win,” Wilkinson said. “Even though you’re saying you’re making the decision for the safety of the students, and you want to be sure that your staff will get into school safely, there will be someone who feels that schools should have been open. When you keep them open, there’ll be someone who feels that school should have been closed. So my job is to make the best decision I can, at the time, with the information I have. And I recognize that when the decision is made, there will be someone who will feel that it was not the correct decision.”