Closures & Emergencies

Winter Weather Procedures

To close or not to close schools because of bad weather is a complex issue guaranteed to upset some people no matter the decision. In the process of making the best decision, certain assumptions need to be understood.

• The safety of school children is of primary concern.
• Education is important, and every day of school missed represents lost opportunities never to be reclaimed.
• We are an urban school district with most of our students attending schools within walking distance of their homes.
• A major related factor is parental choice. Because approximately two-thirds of our students come from homes in which both parents work or from single parent homes in which the parent works, it is better to have options from which parents may choose rather than force an undesirable option on them. If schools are closed, parents have no choice. Additionally, parents are in the best position to make a judgment as to whether or not to send their children to school based on weather conditions in their specific locale. If parents believe it is too cold or too dangerous for their children to walk or be driven to school, they have the option to keep their children at home.
• Snow, cold, and ice are three completely separate weather conditions. Each one is uniquely different in terms of affecting the decisions to close or not to close our schools.
  • SNOW: When a heavy snow hits the area, our main criterion is whether or not students can safely walk to school and whether our school buses can run safely. In most snowy conditions, students can safely walk and our buses can run quite well.
  • COLD: Cold Weather is more serious than snow when making school closure decisions. On bitterly cold days we have major concerns about students walking to school. Additionally, there are problems starting our buses and keeping them running. This affects our ability to pick up children at their scheduled time, and causes a far more serious problem than a late bus would during more mild weather. The real temperature would most likely have to be below zero, and other factors (roads, wind chill, bus delay) would also need to be considered before a decision to close schools could be made.
  • ICE: Ice is our biggest problem. Freezing rain and/or refreezing of melted snow make our roads, streets and sidewalks extremely treacherous for pedestrians, cars, and buses alike. Such conditions may force us to close, even when it sometimes appears that no severe weather exists.

How is the decision made to close or not to close school? Representatives from transportation agencies, the weather bureau, the highway district, city and county law enforcement agencies, and school administrators, including the superintendent, check the roads and monitor information throughout the night and early morning hours. We confer by telephone between 5:30 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. to reach a decision which insures the safety of students.

If the decision is to close schools, that information is given to the local media by the District's Public Information Specialist. Only under the most severe conditions would a decision to close schools be made in time to announce it the night before. The most important understanding we need to have is that when the children's safety is secure, we plan to have school.