Emergency School Closing Procedures

The decision to open or close schools in bad weather is based on a careful analysis of all relevant information. The superintendent is responsible for the final decision, but the assessment is based on recommendations from the Office of Emergency Management, Executive Cabinet, Director of Transportation, and other information such as road and river conditions and predictions of worsening weather. We must carefully consider the most dangerous roads in our 79-square-mile district. The streets in your neighborhood might be good, but the roads or conditions elsewhere in the district may be impassable.

The district may decide to close schools in severe weather or emergencies. These decisions will be made before 5:00 am (or earlier if possible), as conditions that make roads hazardous may occur overnight. This timeframe will give our employees, parents, and students as much advance notice as possible.

If conditions worsen during the school day, an early dismissal could occur, but all possible attempts will be made to give adequate notice to parents first.

Although the district staff does our absolute best through this process, no perfect decision exists. If you do not feel it is safe for your child to attend school, we advise you to use your best judgment on whether they should attend. Also, we urge parents to discourage teenagers from driving in bad conditions and offer them alternatives if weather conditions worsen.

Once the superintendent has made the decision, our communications department will share it on the district's website, through the mass notification system, post on social media, and notify our local media.

Children who usually ride the bus may still ride the bus during a delayed start or an early dismissal. For a delayed start, you can expect your child’s bus to arrive at the bus stop two hours later than the original time. For example, if your elementary child’s bus usually arrives at 7:20 am, it will arrive at approximately 9:20 am. Please remember this is an estimated time. Road conditions and other issues may delay buses.