By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph students will have the opportunity to celebrate a Super Bowl victory for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Superintendent Gabe Edgar says it was decided early on that if the Chiefs were to win the big game, school would be called off to allow students and staff to attend the victory parade in Kansas City.
Edgar says the biggest reason for the call to cancel school was attendance.
"Obviously the attendance, students coming to school, has a financial impact on the school district," Edgar tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. "And then, we just probably couldn't have it, if you have 50 to 75 employees who request to be off that day, so it's just more of a pain than anything to try to have school."
Edgar says the he joined in the decision with Kansas City superintendents earlier this month to call off school if there were a parade for a Chiefs’ win.
Edgar says it means just as much here in St. Joseph as it does in Kansas City because the journey to the Super Bowl all started right here.
"We are the central piece of the Kansas City Chiefs when it comes down to it, their road to the Super Bowl started where? It started in St. Joseph, Missouri, right?" Edgar says. "So, that's why we're going to honor the parade day off."
Edgar says while many people have been grateful for the decision, he knows not everyone will be happy with it.
"It's just like any decision you make in my position, you're not going to make everybody happy, but at the end of the day you have to do what's best for the people you work for, the students and staff of the St. Joe school district," Edgar explains.
The school district will use one of its built-in snow days to account for the school cancellation, which Edgar says made the decision an easier one with only one of those days being used thus far.
Officials also announced that campuses within the umbrella of the St. Joseph Catholic Academy will also be out of school tomorrow to attend or watch the victory parade.