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Broken Arrow snow team helps district during inclement weather

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BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — The icy conditions forced multiple schools to either close Monday or go to distance learning. And with more winter weather in the forecast, some schools are already calling of classes for Tuesday.

Broken Arrow Public Schools has a specialized team to help them decide whether or not to close. It’s called the snow team and it consists of 40 members from various departments within the district. When the weather gets bad, the team makes sure all roads, driveways and parking lots in the district are safe. Roger Shepherd, Director of Maintenance with BAPS said the snow team is responsible for every site for the district, 37 in total.

“We drive the roads early in the morning and evaluate the whole school system to determine if it’s safe for our students and our teachers and our parents that drive in. Bus drivers are a big factor also,” said Shepherd.

How do schools decide to close for winter weather?

Shepherd said the snow team has 12 trucks with plows, snowblowers, ice melt, shovels and ice scrapers. They also have three sand spreaders and all the equipment needed to keep the roads clear during inclement weather to keep the district’s 20 thousand students, faculty and parents are safe.

BAPS canceled classes for Tuesday due to the ongoing winter weather conditions.

>> See a full list of school closures

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