A Super Bowl parade “snow day” from school is not a certainty for Johnson County children this time around.
At least one Johnson County school district — Olathe — has already announced that, unlike previous Super Bowl-winning years, it plans to keep class in session if the Chiefs win Sunday and there is another Super Bowl parade in Kansas City next week
Other Johnson County districts have yet to announce plans in case of that eventuality.
In previous years, most Johnson County schools have canceled classes for Super Bowl and World Series victory parades, including last year when the Chiefs celebrated their victory in Super Bowl LVII.
Two Missouri districts — Kansas City Public Schools and the Independence School District — have already announced plans to cancel class on Wednesday, Feb. 14, if the Chiefs win. (The Chiefs two other recent Super Bowl parades have been held on the Wednesday after the game.)
Snow days are impacting the decision
- Olathe Public Schools let families know earlier this week that “regardless of the outcome of” Super Bowl LVIII, class will continue as scheduled next week.
- If there is a parade on Wednesday, Feb. 14 (which is also Valentine’s Day) and a family chooses to keep their student home, then they need to report that absence.
- Officials cited a string of school days canceled in January due to wintry weather as a reason for not granting a Super Bowl parade off day this year.
- “Due to the five inclement weather days this semester, we are being extra intentional with our instructional minutes moving forward and have made the decision to have school and conferences as planned from Feb. 12-15,” the message to Olathe families said.
Other JoCo school districts have yet to announce plans
- Alvie Cater, assistant superintendent with Unified School District 232 in De Soto, said the district plans to share information with families by the end of the day on Friday.
- David Smith, chief communications officer with the Shawnee Mission School District, told the Post that the district did not have finalized plans as of Thursday.
- Representatives from the Blue Valley School District did not immediately respond to the Post’s questions this week.
- “If we need to, we will make an announcement once we know the outcome of the game,” Smith said.
How did parade cancellations play out last year?
- Last year, Olathe let families know before the Super Bowl that school would be canceled the Wednesday after the game if there was a victory parade.
- USD 232 put out a similar alert ahead of the big game last year, letting families know classes would be canceled should there be a parade.
- Neither Shawnee Mission nor Blue Valley announced plans before the game last year, but then both districts canceled classes for the parade after the Chiefs won.
Go deeper: Lenexa family has seen all Chiefs’ highs and lows with 55 years of season tickets
