Sounds as if the southern habit of “snow day” has spread to formerly resilient areas that once would have just taken a winter storm in stride and prided themselves in keeping things running smoothly. An unanticipated day off can be pleasurable, don’t get me wrong, but in places that get frequent snowfall it’s sort of impractical, isn’t it?
They don’t take snow days here unless absolutely necessary. They don’t close for nothing. No school means no state money. Can’t have any of that you know.
The Finger Lakes region is pretty hilly and in many places downright desolate and some of the school districts are spread pretty wide.
They need to take into consideration getting the kids to and from school safely, if they can even do it.
Many times the back roads are downright impassible and where there are open fields and the wind is blowing strongly, the roads quickly become drifted over and driving is downright dangerous, especially for the idiots who plow into those areas full tilt. You have to slow down to almost nothing to not have your car thrown off the road when you hit a sudden deep drift.