With unsafe road conditions and freezing temperatures, the Wentzville School District announced the all schools in the district will be closed Tuesday, Jan. 27. In the announcement, WSD said the cancellation was due to challenging road conditions in some parts of the district.

This will count as the first AMI day for the district. With this years’ snow day policy, the first two snow days used were regular snow days, then the next five following are to be AMI days.

Over the weekend, Winter Storm Fern hit the United States with a blast. Covering from New Mexico and Texas in the south all the way to New England in the North, this storm has impacted the U.S. tremendously. It has cause numerous accidents, power outages, and catastrophic impacts. 

According to KSDK, Lake Saint Louis got 11 inches of snow, which is the third highest total in the St. Louis metro area. 

Due to the frigid temperatures, laying salt down on the roads would not have been effective. When the temperature outside get to cold, as well as the pavement temperature, the chemicals in the salt can not be activated, making it ineffective. Since the weather has been so cold, and salt was not effective, roads in rural areas are not safe to drive on and get kids to school.

For majority of Monday, staff was working to get school parking lots and sidewalks cleared, in hopes of returning to school on Tuesday. Staff was also driving around the district monitoring the condition of the roads. 

With this AMI day, there are still four to be used before without having to make up days at the end of the year.