South Bend Community Schools stay open

Schools in South Bend stayed open today, despite the wintry weather.

For South Bend Community Schools, the process of determining a snow day begins the night before.

After school officials met to discuss potentially severe weather, crews began clearing parking lots and access roads -- starting at 1 am.

They assessed road safety and reported back to school officials by 4 am.

Today, the district alerted parents that school was still in session.

Earlier this year, Indiana passed a new law limiting public schools to three e-learning days a year.

The first few snow days would become e-learning days.

But South Bend officials say they are on a mission to keep students in-person.

"The e-learning definitely has an impact. We want to make sure that not only are our kids safe but that they also have the best education possible, and we've seen with COVID that e-learning is an option and that it's helpful, but the best education that you can get will be in the classroom for teachers," said Erin Wagler, the Director of Communications for the South Bend Community School Corporation.

South Bend Schools will continue to notify families of closings via phone, their website, and social media.

For more information on weather related closings, visit abc57.com.