SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – School districts across the Ozarks are, once again this week, faced with making the tough snow day call.

On Monday, numerous districts opted to cancel classes or have a virtual learning day.

“We had our grounds team in early to start cleaning parking lots at 4 o’clock,” said Travis Shaw with Springfield Public Schools. “My phone rang at 3:58 letting me know how bad it was driving to do that.”

School leaders in Springfield said multiple things factor into making the decision.

“Our team gets out and drives early,” said Shaw. “We have a team of four that drives through four different quadrants of the district, that way we can determine all parts of it.”

In Nixa, the decisions also come from multiple people collaborating.

“We have our transportation department, we have our custodial department, we have people that are checking various parts of the district and different roads,” said Zac Rantz with Nixa Public Schools.

Rantz said one of the main questions school leaders must determine is if school buses can run properly.

Shaw said it’s also important to think about if high school drivers can navigate the conditions.

Both districts said the decision to cancel in-person classes Monday was a little bit more straightforward.

However, it’s not always that way.

“The decisions that are really, really rough are the decisions where we have to predict into the future,” said Rantz.

School districts are already starting to cancel for Tuesday.