Closing schools because of snow depends on several factors, but mainly what the road conditions are. If snow is creating slick and hazardous road conditions, then schools should be closed.
New York Public Schools are very rarely closed, though, if a foot of snow does fall, there is a slight, though still tiny chance of a snow day.
It is safe to assume that all schools in New Orleans were closed because of Hurricane Sandy, but to find out how many days they were closed or if schools in other areas were closed, you should check newspapers or call the school district of the area you are interested in.
For the past 50 years, schools in my area have had a similar schedule to the ones schools have now. We also got days off when the weather was snowy or icy and road conditions were bad. Beyond that, it is hard to say what days off schools got.
2 days
7 days
In 1978, a massive blizzard hit the midwest and closed colleges in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio that had never been closed for weather or had only closed a coiple of times. Though it would be hard to find a list of the schools that were closed because of the blizzard, it is safe to assume any school in the area of the blizzard was closed for at least a week, maybe longer.
Each school district creates their own calendar for what days schools will be closed. For your school's schedule, please check the calendar or ask a school official.
How often school are closed in a certain area depends on how many days the weather is bad, and that varies from year to year. To find out how many days schools were closed due to snow in a certain year, call the district's office.
Many schools are closed for Good Friday, but each school district in the United States determines their own calendar for days off. If there are schools that are not closed for Good Friday in Vermont, it would probably be a very small number.
In the US, schools close for federal holidays (President's Day, MLK Day, etc.). Schools could be closed for state holidays, too, as long as school is open the minimum number of days required.
At the start of each year, each student should be given a calendar for the entire year that has all the scheduled days when school is closed for holidays on it. If you did not receive a calendar or no longer have it, your teacher should be able to tell you if there will be school on Columbus Day.
There are no fines or penalties to pay, but the days schools are closed due to bad weather have to be made up.