Latest local news, weather and high school sports for Tri-State area

QUINCY, ILL. -- Whenever it snow's, kids and parents start tuning in to KHQA and logging on to www.connecttristates.com to find out if there will be school that day. It is a tradition that is passed from generation from generation. Even if some of those generations exaggerate how they had to get to school in the snow.

But just how does a school decide to close? In most cases the decision starts in the wee hours of the morning. Quincy Public School's Superintendent, Lonny Lemon says the process in Quincy starts as early as 1:00 a.m. The district has security that monitors the properties around the clock. If the weather is bad, that person will contact the school's maintenance chief.

Now the process begins. The maintenance chief may decide to start moving snow or salting sidewalks. If that has to be done, custodians may get the call to come in around 2:30 a.m.

This may be all it takes to get school ready for business. But if not, a call goes out to the school superintendent. Starting around 3:30 a.m., superintendents around Adams County will begin to conference on the phone. They will all give input about conditions in their area. This will allow everyone to get an idea about the severity of the weather across the county.

One of the people on that call is the Unit 4 School's Superintendent, Diane Robertson. She will have to make the decision on closing her district. By the time she gets on the phone, she and her bus maintenance director will have been out on the streets checking the conditions.

It is now 4 a.m. If the conditions do not improve, Lemon makes a call to his transportation department. They will have information on current road and weather conditions. The next call goes out to the county commissioners. They provide Lemon with more information on how good or bad roads the roads are around the county.

Lemon says things are pretty active now. He is getting input from his people to help provide him with all the information he needs to make his decision. But there is still one important call to make before that decision in final.

That call goes out to the transportation department for the City of Quincy. It's people will be out plowing and treating the city streets. They will give Lemon the thumbs up or down on the city's road conditions.

The clock now strikes 5 a.m. A decision has to be made. The phone calls are done. Diane Robertson and Lonnie Lemon both have to make a decision about what is best for the safety of their students and staff. Robertson says, "I have to make a decision about what is happening in my district." "Just because one district closes doesn't mean ours will," she adds.

If a district does decide to close school for the day, it will activate its School Reach program. This will send out a message to the students, parents and staff. Then the call is made to KHQA news.

Televisions and computers begin to turn on. Kids and parents huddle around to find out if there will a snow day. A snow day! The tradition Mother Nature provides continues once again.