| Written by Dr. Debra LIvingston, Superintendent |
Determining school cancellations and late starts is taken very seriously by the the administration of FMRSD. Our students and employees safety is of utmost concern. Because we are a regional school district, we must be consistent in cancellations and late starts across all five towns. To this end, we follow many steps before a decision is made to close schools or start school late.
We begin by watching TV weather channels and radar as soon as there is a National Weather Service storm advisory. This means that we are watching the weather each evening during the Winter months. We also base our decision on the following extremely important factors:• Temperature, including wind chill factor. • Wind velocity impacting the blowing and drifting of snow. • Buses running routes on a slower pace having an impact on the length of time students may be waiting at bus stops. • Parents driving their sons/daughters to school in poor driving conditions and high school age students with little experience driving to school. • Number of inches of projected snowfall. • Freezing rain and/or icy conditions. A decision to close schools or start late must be made by 5:30 a.m., as buses need to begin routes at 6 a.m. At about 5 a.m. the transportation manager calls all of the districts highway departments, police departments, and the State Highway Department in Keene to determine road conditions. She also talks to drivers at their homes in various locations around the district to determine local road conditions. Neighboring school districts are called to get their input. The business manager, transportation manager and superintendent then consider all of the information that has been gathered to make a decision. Late starts are used when we are seeing the end of a storm and highway departments have advised that the extra time can aid in the clean up. It also provides better visibility for drivers during daylight. Late starts will normally be a two-hour delay from your normal school start. For example, if your child’s school normally starts at 7:30 a.m., a late start causes the school day to begin at 9:30 a.m. Once a decision is made to close school or start late, a district snow tree goes into affect, which notifies district employees and radio and television stations. Over all buses are very safe. They have “on-spot” chains that drivers can lower as needed. Drivers can also call for on the spot sand deliveries should conditions warrant. Please encourage your teenager to ride the bus during inclement weather rather than drive. They are safer having an experienced driver take them to school. Unless there are unusual circumstances, FMRSD will not implement early dismissals for bad weather situations. Many of our bus drivers work more than one job, making it difficult for drivers to leave early. An early dismissal introduces the risk of sending a young student home to an empty house. We have learned that knowing students are inside, safe, warm, and learning is far better than sending them home to an empty house. However, it is important to remember that you are the parent and know what is best for your child. If you believe your child would be safer at home in poor weather conditions, your child's absence will be marked as excused. Likewise, if uncomfortable with the weather conditions throughout a poor weather day as you access the weather conditions, we would encourage you to act upon that belief, communicate with your school’s principal and make the necessary arrangements to pick up your child. What may appear to be a simple decision, as you can tell, includes many components: (transportation, communications, before/after school child care in our elementary schools, the timing of the decision, road crews, bus drivers). The decisions to close school are based on the ability of the buses to safely and efficiently transport students and the ability of our student drivers to arrive safely at school. Ultimately, the decision lies with the superintendent and it is, indeed, a difficult one, but like you, our first priority is to insure the safety of our students. Although some may choose to disagree, we will never compromise that basic principle when making the decision, and we support your decision in keeping children home if you find it necessary.
|