I live in Niagara Region and do not close on snow days. I just don't think that all parents will always take the day off work even if the board closes. For starters, what about all those daycare families who do not have school aged children...they won't be effected. I find that it is a minority that a school closure effects in terms of home daycare. Yes there are those families with a child in daycare and a child in school who will be required to take a day off for the school aged child, but I'm not going to close and have half my families not be effected by a school closure, and I'm certainly not going to allow those that are effected a day off daycare with no charge if I am still open. The school boards in Southern Ontario are notorious for being inconsistent with their board closures for snow. My kids have both been in the Halton board and the Niagara board at one time or another. I remember one year when Niagara, Brantford, Peel and GTA boards all closed but Halton stayed open. I then recall a few weeks later after an uproar that Halton closed when there really wasn't the need to but all the other boards stayed open. It's erratic and unpredictable and sometimes the closures are necessary and sometimes they aren't. I need consistency with my income and I can open regardless of the weather. It is very very rare that no family would require me due to the snow causing me to have no children. I know some parents who have opted out of driving into work, but have travelled the short distance to my house so they can still get work done at home.

So as my contract simply states, regardless of the cause of absence, if I am open for business, everyone pays. I bet that teacher parent is getting paid!