Twin Cities' schools not closed, but on notice during frigid cold snap

Classes across the Twin Cities metro area are on for what is shaping up to be a frigid Thursday, but parents and kids must be prepared for the elements.

When temperatures are bearable, Minnesotans usually get out and embrace the outdoors.

“I like the cold because that means hockey season,” said Zoe Moore, who loves the cold.

Hockey lovers are getting their ice time in while they can at the Groveland Ice Rinks in St. Paul. The next few days will feel a lot different, when the bone-chilling cold settles in.

“I don’t like it,” said Brynn Scanlan, who hates the cold. “I just like to stay in my house and cuddle up and watch TV.”

FOX 9 Chief Meteorologist Ian Leonard is forecasting wind chills as low as minus 30 degrees Thursday night, which has parents making plans so their kids get to school safely.

“A lot of times, we’ll take the girls in and drive separately so we don’t have to wait at the bus stop and otherwise, we’ll absolutely bundle up and prepare for the cold,” said Mollie Moore, a mother.

St. Paul Public Schools says they won’t cancel school unless wind chill is minus 35 degrees or the air temperature is minus 25 degrees.

Other Twin Cities school districts, including Minneapolis Public Schools, say they go case by case and monitor the forecast before making a decision.

In St. Paul, administrators want to make sure families are ready for this cold blast.

“We want to remind our communities, kids, families and our bus contractors also that you know we use caution every day,” said Tom Burr, the director of transportation for St. Paul Public Schools. “But on these cold days, let’s use some extra caution.”

The transportation departments says they also make sure crews get the buses started a little bit earlier and have other buses standing by.

“Maybe we’ve got an extra two or three or four buses running in case there are troubles along the route in order to fill in as quickly as we can,” Burr added.

Parents like Annika Reier are making sure their young ones have on all the layers they need.

“Yup, I think we’ll def do a lot of bundling and very short stints outside and we won’t go outside on the cold days,” said Reier.

St. Paul Public Schools also has a bus app that parents can sign up for to let them know if their kids’ bus is running more than 10 minutes late, so they don’t have to stand out in the cold waiting.

For the latest on school closings throughout the winter, visit fox9.com/closings for up to the minute updates.