By: Logan Tichy, Ads Editor

Seven inches of snow on the ground already with four more  forecast to fall during the day. It’s 7:00 A.M and the alarm clock goes off. Students and parents quickly turn on the T.V to see if school is delayed or even canceled. Every other school like Linn-Mar and Cedar Rapids schools have the day off due to weather, but it’s still a full day for Marion.

Sarah Pinion, Marion’s Superintendent, has a different philosophy when calling a delay or even a no-school day. “I try and keep people on the regular basis. It’s easier for parents and their children. The littler kids will know exactly what time to leave the house to get on the bus or even walk to school. This is so the littler kids will not stand outside too long waiting for the bus to come pick them up,” said Pinion.

Having to wake up at 5:00 A.M to go out and drive the streets is just one of the things that she gets to do being the Superintendent. “You have to factor in a lot of things, just not how much snow is on the ground. You have to remember that all of our school district is city, only 3.6 square miles, also people in the community have a routine of what they see in the mornings. They see a school bus stopped here to pick up kids every morning, or they know these kids walk across this cross walk at this time, leaving drivers more comfortable with their surroundings. If we had a delay drivers will have a harder time knowing where the kids are when they are on their way to the bus stop or crossing the cross walk,” Pinion stated. These are all things she has to factor in before calling school off for the day.

Even though there are parents and students out there who always hate what the ruling is for school,  Pinion believes that she has made the right decision. “I feel like I made good decisions when calling school. If you can back up your decision with knowledge to what you are talking about then it makes it a good one,” she implied. She tries to make the best and right decision to her ability. If parents would like to tell her their input about the snow, she will be more then willing to answer an email or a phone call.

Sarah Pinion did not grow up in Alaska, a rumor many students have been spreading around. She is used to the snow because she grew up in Bloomington, Illinois.  She does have sympathy to schools who have rural kids. “I’ve been the Superintendent at Jesup and Andrew school districts, who have mostly rural kids, so they will have more delays and closing than city school,” Pinion said.

Trudging through the snow on the way to the same normal day of school that kids had the day before is just something Marion kids will have to get used to. Nothing has changed from the day before besides a few extra inches of fluffy white snow on the ground. There may be no delays or school cancellations in the near future for Marion, but Pinion has her reasons.