Sub-zero temperatures force multiple school closures in Joliet area

Extreme cold in and around Joliet on Wednesday pushed temperatures below zero and forced multiple school districts to either cancel classes or go virtual.

The National Weather Service reported that the cold reached as low as negative 16 degrees in Joliet early Wednesday morning, before rising to around zero degrees around midday.

In anticipation of the frigid weather, multiple school districts announced plans to either cancel classes or revert to online learning for Wednesday.

“It wasn’t safe for our students and families to be outside in the extreme cold,” Joliet Public School District 86 spokeswoman Sandy Zalewski said.

Zalewski said many students in District 86 take the bus to get to their school and it was too cold for them to be outside for extended periods of time.

NWS meteorologist Ricky Castro said even with fairly light winds and clear skies, the cold poses a danger since “you don’t really realize how cold it is.”

“If you spend a longer duration outside, it’s easy to develop frostbite,” he said.

That concern also prompted the Rockdale School District and Laraway School District 70C to cancel classes on Wednesday.

Joliet Township High School District 204 and Troy School District 30C decided to institute virtual learning on Wednesday instead of having students come into school.

“Please exercise great caution if you have to move about tomorrow,” read a Troy School District social media post. “Be safe. Stay warm. Breathe. We are Troy Blue.”

Zalewski said District 86 coordinated its plan for Wednesday with the other districts that feed into JTHS.

She added that Joliet 86 leadership decided to cancel classes altogether instead of going virtual, as all schools had to during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic nearly two years ago. She said this was because District 86 had not approved an e-learning plan ahead of this school year.

Zalewski said the district does build in five emergency days into its calendar for events like inclement weather. District 86 said it will make up Wednesday’s lost classes on June 1.

The district’s closure affects nearly 10,000 students in Joliet.

Zalewksi said District 86 plans to resume normal operations on Thursday as the extreme cold is expected to relent.

The NWS projects temperatures to rise to around freezing on Thursday, though wind gusts could get as high as 25 miles per hour. Castro said another cold front could then hit the area late Friday into Saturday, before temperatures moderate early next week.

For information, visit weather.gov.