Originally Posted by Play Care:
To me school is different from DC. Kids need education. My own dd has inattentive type ADHD and can not afford to miss school. Now, if we had weather that severe I would keep her home, but our schools would probably close anyway. The other week it was really cold here (negative temps and wind chill) and I got flak on a parent board for sending her to school. I drove her in, the school has heat and I knew they were not going outside (and even if they did she had all the right equipment) If I kept her out every time this winter we had those temps, she'd fail. You don't fail dc 
I getcha
. The plus side is that in New York at least your state knows how to handle cold weather! The southern states don't even have snow plows or machinery to help with the ice.