The Northfield Public School district has announced that schools will be closed today, February 22 and tomorrow, February 23, due to the 
combination of heavy snow overnight and the blizzard warning that begins at noon. All classes and activities are canceled for both days.
These will be the fourth and fifth e-Learning days. Elementary students should use Activity Matrix 4 & 5. Learn more about full-day school cancellations and the full e-Learning plan at Northfield Schools.org
Additionally:
-Cannon Falls has closed schools through Thursday
-The Faribault School District has closed schools through Thursday
-Farmington Schools are closed through Thursday
-Kenyon Wanamingo schools are closed through Thursday
-The Randolph School District has closed schools through Thursday
-The Tri-City United School District has closed schools through Thursday
City of Northfield Declares Snow Emergency
The City of Northfield has declared a snow emergency effective 9 p.m. Tuesday, February 21 until 9 a.m. Saturday, February 25.
During a snow emergency there is no parking on any city street until it is plowed curb-to-curb and the weather system has passed. Vehicles parked on the street will be ticketed with the potential of being towed during a snow emergency.
Parking is allowed on downtown streets in front of businesses during normal business hours while a snow emergency is in effect.
Trash and recycling bins are not allowed on city streets.
When downtown parking lots are scheduled for snow removal there is no parking within them from 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. All downtown parking lot permit holders must park in the proper lots during a snow emergency.
• Residential streets will be plowed today, tomorrow and Friday
• Downtown snow removal will be on Friday and Saturday
• Snow removal in all downtown parking lots will be on Sunday
For updated information, call the City of Northfield parking hotline at 507-645-3080 or visit the City of Northfield website at northfieldmn.gov
Snow emergencies have also been declared for the cities of Faribault and Lonsdale that will extend into Saturday morning.
Other closings
Fifty North is closed today and Thursday. The center will re-open at 6am on Friday morning.
The Northfield Area YMCA has cancelled group exercises and the Child Watch program. Swimming lessons will be rescheduled
The Murder at Minnesota Point program with author Jeff Sauve that was scheduled for Thursday, has been cancelled. This program will be rebooked for later in the year.
Hillmann “despises” closing school
The decision to close Northfield Public Schools today (February 22nd) and tomorrow (February 23rd) was made in the late afternoon 
Hillman “despises” calling off school. The district, he said, wants kids to be in school. The kids, he said, want to be in school, and the families of the students want the kids to be in school. However, part of his job is to balance the importance of having students in school and the effects of disrupting a family schedule with student safety, which will always be his top priority.
The Northfield area school district is 178 square miles, and sometimes the weather conditions on one side of the district are much worse than on another side, and sometimes the decision must be made for the good of students who live in an area where the weather is much worse than other parts of the district.
When deciding on whether or not kids should go to school, he himself will be up very early in the morning driving some of the rural area roads, and John Benjamin of the Benjamin Bus Company does the same thing. They look at if the roads are passable, and they evaluate the visibility. He and Benjamin will compare notes, and he will also consult with the National Weather Service, and then he will make the decision.
“So, you know, we weigh all of those things, and then we make the call and most of the time we’re right, and sometimes not so much. But you make the decision with the best information that you have at the time. We live in Minnesota. We need to expect this from time to time.”
Calling off school as early as he did yesterday, and for two days, is highly unusual, but he said the way conditions are looking, and the confidence forecasters have in the sheer amount of snow we will receive – estimates are anywhere from 17”-30” – made the decision an easy one.
These will be the fourth and fifth eLearning Days for the district students, and while he concedes that eLearning days cannot compare to a full day in school, it is an option that the district has pioneered over the past few years in order to keep a school year from spilling over well into June.
Students, he said, will have a zoom meeting with one of their teachers in the morning. They will be given their instructions and the expectations for the day, and they will meet again with that teacher later in the day. In the meantime, the students are on their own completing their work, with the teacher accessible to them in a variety of ways. One of the benefits of this type of structure is what amounts to practical experience in a remote working environment.
“We do know that that remote work is going to be part of our future. Some of it will be full time, I think less than it is right now, but for certain there are a number of companies that are telling people today plan to work remotely tomorrow and Thursday. And they’re going to have some kind of huddle in the morning with their team via a video conferencing session. They’re going to give them the instructions for the day people are going to work and then they’re going to report back. Our students are getting that experience.”
Hillmann again acknowledged that the situation is not ideal, however it is better than students having to make up multiple days at the end of the year, which can also disrupt a family’s schedule. The goal, he said, is to keep disruption to instruction to a bare minimum, and he feels this is the best way to go about that.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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