Hi friends, here are a few answers to the question, "Why are we closed AGAIN?" Feel free to share.
Q. Who makes the decision to close or delay? Usually it is the superintendent of a district. They usually confer with one or more of the following people: bus garage, police, road crews, other local superintendents.
Q. Is there a magic temperature when schools must close or delay? No. But many things are taken into account such as what kind of bus garage you have and what kind of fuel your buses use. If the buses are kept outside and use diesel fuel, the fuel turns to gel at around -4. Capability and man power of each garage to warm the vehicles and get them de-iced varies, so that is a major factor. You also have to look at bus runs. If there are buses that go many miles to pick up students there is a greater possibility the kids will be left standing outside for extended periods, subjecting children to the cold. On Monday I had a chid come to school with no coat. You also have to think about those parents who don't dress their kids appropriately or the fact that even little ones sometimes get themselves off to the bus each day, esp. when there is a delay.
Q. The roads don't seem that bad so why the delay/cancellation? Keep in mind that many districts like EF are between 26-45 sq. miles. In other parts of the state the districts are over 100 sq. miles. Your roads may look fine, but there are rural roads in other parts of the district where plows or salt trucks cannot reach to make a safe way for the bus. Also later in the season municipalities may run out of salt or non-skid.

Scary things happen. And sometimes they happen at schools. We can't let this fact overtake us, but we can certainly put as many things in place as possible so that we are as safe as possible. One of the things that we do at school is to practice Lock Down Drills. All of the teachers talk to the children using age appropriate terms to prepare them for what we would do in an emergency where we would need to lock our classroom doors. It is a good idea to talk to your child about staying safe in all kinds of situations both at home at school. If you have questions or concerns after talking to your child about lock down drills give me a call. Together we can make sure that all of our children feel safe each and every day.