Most Whatcom County public schools will be closed for Thursday, Jan. 19, because of continuing frigid temperatures and icy roads.
Students in Bellingham, Blaine, Ferndale, Lynden, Meridian, Mount Baker and Nooksack Valley school districts will have another snow day this week. It will be the third such day for all of them, with the exception of Blaine.
Students in Blaine started two hours late on Tuesday and were kept home on Wednesday.
Students were off Monday, Jan. 16, for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Mount Baker Interim Superintendent Karst Brandsma said that "although snow conditions have stabilized," parking lots, walkways and roads remained unsafe.
"The safety of students and staff is very important. It is with this in mind that we are canceling classes for tomorrow," Brandsma said on Wednesday afternoon.
Tim Yeomans, superintendent for Meridian School District, cited "very persistent cold, wind chill, drifting and blowing snow" as reasons for canceling school on Thursday.
Most schools in Whatcom County canceled classes Wednesday because of inclement weather.
The exceptions on Wednesday were Western Washington University, which kept to its regular schedule but canceled classes that started at 5 p.m. and later, and Bellingham Technical College, which delayed the start of school until 10 a.m.
Those decisions raised the ire of students who said, via Facebook, that they were concerned about having to drive icy roads in sub-freezing temperatures to get to class.
"It's a hard decision. Everyone wants everybody to be safe," said Marni Saling Mayer, spokeswoman for BTC.
She said students are encouraged to use their own discretion and to "ascertain what driving conditions are like in their area because it's so vastly different."
WWU did not comment on the matter.
Neither BTC nor WWU had announced by The Herald's deadline whether classes would be in session on Thursday.
Whatcom Community College and Northwest Indian College also canceled classes on Wednesday because of the weather and road conditions, but neither had announced by Wednesday night whether they would re-open on Thursday.
Also unknown was whether Lummi Nation School, which was closed on Wednesday, would re-open on Thursday.
