Superintendent’s Message on

School Cancellation Procedures Due to Weather

Cancellation: In making the decision to cancel or delay school based on weather, our primary concern is always the safety of our students. We take into consideration the condition of our rural roads over which our buses must travel and the conditions that our walking students must endure traveling to and from school. If the roads are passable, and there is no serious threat to safety, school will typically be held. There are occasions when our out-of-town county roads are hazardous, but our in-town roads are passable. Since a very small percentage of our students reside out-of-town, on these occasions we may decide to hold school, but not to run the out-of-town buses. When this happens, our out-of-town bus students will not penalized for missing and will receive full make up privileges.

Concerning the extreme cold, we believe that many of our students are better off in school during severe cold weather, under adult supervision, in a warm building, and with a hot meal, than they would be at home alone. Thus, cold will seldom prompt us to close our buildings. However, in extreme situations, e.g., if the wind-chill drops below -30F and we determine that the trip to and from school would be perilous, we may cancel school. Regardless of our decision, we will always respect a parent's right to keep a child home if the parent feels it is in the best interest of their child's safety and welfare. On such occasions, we will do all we can to accommodate make up work. However, I would strongly caution that this decision must rest solely with the parent — not the child.

Delayed Starts: There may be times where we may delay the start of school either one or two hours. This provides additional time for road crews and our maintenance staff to clear the roadways and walkways, and for the day to warm up enough to make the trip to and from school less risky.

Listen to WKEI: During times of inclement weather conditions, it is imperative that parents and students listen to WKEI/WJRE for the latest news on school closings. We use WKEI/WJRE as our official cancellation station. It is also important that parents and student do NOT CALL the schools or the administrators to see if schools are closing. They are busily engaged in making all of the notifications, postponements, rescheduling, and other contacts associated with the cancellation of a school day.

I hope this helps answer a few of the questions associated with school cancellation. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact the Superintendent’s Office.