Dear NH-M School Community,
With the potential of inclement weather soon approaching, I wanted to share some information and insight on snow days from the superintendent’s perspective. While I do intend this to be informative and transparent, it is also designed in a Q/A fashion to speak plain language and get to the essence of questions around snow days. The decision to delay, dismiss early, or close schools due to inclement weather has an enormous effect on all of our families. The following information may help you understand the process that is used when making this critical decision.
This year the school district will be using traditional snow days instead of e-learning. While I am hoping we do not have to use any emergency snow days; in being realistic, we likely will.
When inclement weather impacts the District, the decision to dismiss, delay or close schools is based upon a careful analysis of the following factors:
● By driving some of our roads and assessing key roads/intersections that our buses need to navigate.
● By assessing the available information on road conditions from law enforcement, and local road commissioners.
● By assessing the amount of accumulated snow and/or ice, or the density of the fog.
● By assessing the visibility.
● By determining whether or not the precipitation/fog is predicted to continue throughout the day.
● By assessing the temperature and wind chill.
● By determining the impact on our transportation (buses).
● By examining weather predictions from satellite systems, local radar and the National Weather Service.
● By assessing the timing of the storm/fog.
● By holding discussions with area Superintendents beginning the prior evening and continuing again around 4:00 am
Generally, if our buses can safely travel, then we will choose to operate in most cases. If we perceive it to be unsafe and a “NO GO” – then I will immediately inform district staff, send communication information out to families, and inform local media. You can expect postings on our district app, Facebook, and WICS News Channel 20.
Questions/Answers
Who makes the decision on whether to delay, dismiss early or cancel school?
As the Superintendent, I am tasked with this responsibility.
When is the decision made?
I will make every attempt to communicate a cancellation of school no later than 6:30 am or the previous night/day. We will initiate the automated communication system, post through our school app Facebook, and notify WAND News Channel 20. If a school day is delayed or dismissed early, the same contacts will be notified.
Will we close school if conditions worsen (early dismissal)?
If weather conditions worsen, I will be watchful, but reluctant to dismiss early. If we send students (especially younger students) back home, some will return to empty houses. However, there may be a time we will dismiss early in order to get students home before a storm worsens. I am hoping this will be a rare occasion. If this does happen, we will utilize the automated communication system to notify parents in the same manner as if we have a school closure.
Will meals be provided to students on inclement weather days?
There will be no meals provided to students for school being canceled.
If school releases early (we get to school and bad weather comes and we get out early) are activities canceled for that evening?
Yes, if they are held at NH-M. For co-op agreement activities, regular communication channels with those schools/locations should be checked. We will make every effort to communicate information through our app and Facebook page that is shared with us for schools in our co-op agreements.
Snow days burden parents with child care.
I know. I don’t like them either.
We should never close for cold. Tell kids to bundle up.
We try, but many of our students wear lighter clothing to school despite the temperature. In addition, we do not provide transportation to some students living within a mile of school. We need to account for their walk. Some students are blocks from their bus stop. We must account for their walk to the bus stop and the fact that cold weather makes it more possible for buses to be late due to mechanical failure.
Try a delayed start and see what it looks like at 10:00 am
We do have a delayed start schedule. However, that isn’t as easy as it sounds. Preparing lunch and breakfast for students and retrieving it from the site location for students takes most of the morning. In addition, orchestrating drivers, cooks, class schedules, and accounting for our students in attendance in off site locations at multiple sites in Lincoln and Bloomington can be very challenging. We also know that delayed starts remain to be an issue with many of our families who must find appropriate child care either way - for a full closure or delayed beginning of the day.
It is fine in my town or around my neighborhood
We serve a large, rural area. We have rural bus routes that can be extremely dangerous with snow and ice. When it is a coin flip call, I will use my best judgment to keep kids safe and listen to our local road commissioners and law enforcement.
Why did NH-M close and other area schools are open?
While there are a number of factors that impact our rural area more so than in town areas, this year we also have a number of teachers who are driving from outside the area, some of whom are in the Bloomington region which has different weather patterns than our more centralized part of the state. Due to this factor, we may need to close even if area schools do not if we do not have sufficient staff to operate.
A couple of suggestions for partnering with us for your child’s safety in the winter weather:
● Please ensure that your child/ren have appropriate attire for the weather. This includes a coat, gloves, hat, etc. I know that the older students don’t like this, but it is for their safety. There have been cases where students experienced being stuck on buses that have broken down and they have not been dressed appropriately. Busses can get very cold waiting until a spare bus arrives.
● Have a back-up plan in the event I do have to cancel school during the school day once students arrive. Please know that I am very hesitant in ever doing this, but weather is unpredictable.
● Please ensure that you have a plan for your child/ren to get into the house, and have a plan on how your child/ren will gain access to your house if there is no electricity with either a key or the help of a neighbor or family member, etc.
There may be times that you believe we should have canceled school or when you believe school should have been in session. The final decision on whether to cancel school or not is based upon the overall condition of the District and the safety of all of our children. If you ever do not feel it is safe for your child to get to school, use your best judgment as to whether he/she should attend. Please call your respective school office and let them know.
In summary, this is a tough decision to make. While many may be angry we weren’t/were in school on a particular day, I hope you can respect the process.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me at (217) 445-2421 or e-mail at cshaver@nhm88.com.
Mrs. Shaver