School's a go, then it's not

GREEN BAY - Julie Hennigan isn't a happy mom.

"What are the standards? Why is everybody else closing, but not us?" asked Hennigan.

Her five-year-old son Jordan goes to St. Bernard Catholic School in Green Bay. That school follows Green Bay Area Public Schools on whether to remain open during a winter storm.

Wednesday morning, the district decided to have class. The roads and accumulated snowfall weren’t that bad.

But that changed by mid-morning.

"Due to bad weather, all afternoon, four-year-old kindergarten, early childhood, head start and all after-school activities canceled,” stated a recorded message from the district.

Eventually, Winter Storm Denise caused about 260 delays or cancellations in Northeast Wisconsin; of those, more than 100 were schools.

Green Bay eventually decided to release all schools an hour early, wanting to get the children home before dark. Other districts area districts like West De Pere followed suit.

Hennigan says the districts' decisions to go ahead with school put people in harm's way.

"It's not the buses I'm concerned about,” said Hennigan. “It's the people who are driving their cars who slide into buses.”

Green Bay Area Public Schools says it understands the frustration of parents. But says it's a delicate balance to decide whether to keep schools open or to close them for the day.

"All of the technology in the world - this is an art, it's not a science,” said Al Behnke, Green Bay Schools director of Facilities and Operations. "It's difficult to try and make our decision based on a weather forecast. We take that as one component to the consideration.”

Behnke says Green Bay Public Schools coordinate with other districts, the bus companies, police and public works to determine if closing is the best option.

Based on those discussions Wednesday morning, he says the correct call was made.

Something parent Lisa Walczyk agrees with.

"This morning, it wasn't that bad, so I agree with, they wanted to try and get a full day in so they wouldn't want to have to make it up at the end of the year,” she said.

A GBAPS spokesperson says the district has already used its one snow day for the year. She tells FOX 11 the early release doesn't count against the district and the required amount of school days each year.