Schools
Minnesota School Closings: St. Paul, Minneapolis, More
Several major districts in Minnesota have decided to close schools this week due to the extreme cold.

MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Public Schools will continue to be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 29-30. All district offices, including the Davis Education Center and the Student Placement Services Office, will remain closed.
Minneapolis Kids sites will be closed and all Minneapolis Community Education evening classes are canceled as well. All athletic and school-sponsored activities are canceled.
This decision was made because of the dangerously cold temperatures forecast with about 90 percent certainty by the National Weather Service, according to a news release.
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While the temperature at the start of school tomorrow does not fall within the standard guideline for closing of -35 degrees, it quickly drops and is well past that by the end of the school day. All day Wednesday is within guidelines. MPS is monitoring the forecast for Thursday and will notify families and staff of closures by late Wednesday afternoon.
The primary criteria Minneapolis considers when making weather-related decisions include:
Find out what's happening in Southwest Minneapolisfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
- The safety and well-being of students and staff
- Severity of the weather (extreme cold, flooding, etc.)
- The ability for buses and cars to travel safely
- Timing of weather
Saint Paul Public Schools will be closed and most after-school activities and programs are canceled on Tuesday, Jan. 29 and Wednesday, Jan. 30 because of the cold weather.
- Discovery Club will remain open at limited sites
- Athletics cancellations are decided on a case-by-case basis
Cancellations include:
- Classes and programs at all PreK-12 schools
- Early Childhood Special Education
- Extended Day for Learning (EDL)
- Flipside
- Field trips
- School events
- Evening High School
- Youth Community Education classes
- Alternative to Expulsion program (A2E)
- Family Engagement activities (Parent Academy, open house, conferences, etc.)
- Athletics cancellations are decided upon on an individual basis.
- Discovery Club will remain open at limited sites. Families enrolled in Discovery Club will be contacted with information about the site available to them.
- Adult Basic Education will run daytime classes. Evening classes are canceled.
- All Youth and Adult Community Ed enrichment and SEED classes are canceled.
- Permits held by outside organizations (YMCA, Girl Scouts, tutoring, etc.) for meetings and activities in a school building will continue unless that organization cancels. Contact the organizer with questions.
Anoka-Hennepin schools will be canceled for Tuesday, Jan. 29 and Wednesday, Jan. 30. School or district-sponsored after-school and evening activities will also be canceled.
"Please know that this decision has been made for the safety of students and staff," the district said in a statement. "The decision to cancel school on Tuesday is based on projected extreme weather conditions at dismissal time. Anoka-Hennepin does not have the option for a late start or early dismissal due to transportation issues."
"The district will continue to monitor the weather before making a decision about holding school on Thursday. That decision can be expected Wednesday."
Other school districts closing include:
(Click on the links for more information)
- Stillwater
- Roseville Area Schools
- Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan
- Monticello
- St. Cloud
- Sauk Rapids
- Sartell
- Winona
- North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale
- Inver Grove Heights Schools
Find more school closings at KARE 11.
Image via Shutterstock
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