Thank you for your patience and understanding regarding this morning's weather, and this return-from-break week overall. Below, I have outlined what went on this morning in terms of decision making in case you want to know more. Before that, however, I want to apologize for a morning that may have caused extra stress, white-knuckle driving, and frustration. This came on the heels of an "extended" mid-winter break due to our two snow days, so I appreciate the fact that everyone was ready for students to return to school (most of all our students, I hope)! We apologize for the delayed bus routes this morning, and hope for a quiet conclusion to this short week. 

I do want to publicly acknowledge our remarkable custodians, grounds personnel, and facilities leadership for their work to make school possible today. The storm was a whopper, the second in a short period of time, and both were physically demanding. They work very hard, work with pride, and work until the job is done. I also want to extend an equal measure of gratitude to our bus drivers and transportation leadership team. Before our buses roll, snow needs to be removed from the top and around each bus, and vehicles need to be inspected (and in some cases repaired). I also want to thank our PTAs for recognizing and supporting our staff - it goes a long way!  

Unfortunately, the winter isn't over. While it is early, next week holds the potential for more snow. Some of you have asked where we stand with snow days, and what happens if we have "too many". In short, we are required to hold 180 days of session inclusive of our 4 Superintendent Conference Days, and we are safely on track for 182 right now. That gives us "room" for 2 more school closures before we would need to exchange a spring break day for an instructional day. If we were to use our two remaining closure days but need a school closure AFTER spring break, our plan calls for pivoting to remote learning. With March just around the corner, and only 22 days of session until the next school break, I am hopeful that these possibilities are abstractions that will not come to pass. 

Please feel free to read about today's decision below. Otherwise, I wish you all a quiet remainder of the week, and thank you again for today.

With apologies and sincere gratitude,

Dr. Drew Patrick

Not all school closure decisions are the same, and today's weather fell into a small universe of highly difficult calls to make. Below is a rundown of today's decision making process, but it also reflects our general approach to closure/delay decisions. 

• Our Custodians and Grounds personnel reported at 4:00 AM in anticipation of the need to treat parking lots, driveways, and walkways, both as a result of the freezing overnight and the prediction of a light snow accumulation.
• Our Transportation team was also out on the roads before 5:00 AM, and reported minor areas of black ice. No snow was falling at that time.  
• At 5:00 AM, our internal group chat was activated, which includes me, our Assistant Superintendent for Business, our Facilities leaders, and our Transportation Supervisor. At that moment, the conditions were suitable for opening school on time, so the decision hinged on the forecast.
• We reviewed and discussed the forecast (from our professional service, Compuweather), which stated, "A minor snow accumulation is expected on all surfaces. The snow will end early on Wednesday followed by quiet weather through late Wednesday." The temperature was also predicted to rise throughout the morning to 40 degrees.
• With the understanding that our buildings were ready, and what seemed like a manageable forecast in hand, I decided on a normal opening.
• By 6:50 am, it was evident that the event was more significant than expected. However, since that was well past our determination deadline (6:30), I decided to move ahead as planned, knowing decisions after that time are highly disruptive to our community.
• As more "on the ground" feedback came in, I decided to send a cautionary alert at 7:29 AM encouraging people to take their time for safety and to have patience under the circumstances. A second alert was sent to elementary families at 8:29 AM communicating bus delays.
• The combination of narrowed streets due to the previous storm, the immediate conditions, and higher-than-usual parent drop-off slowed our bus routes down, ultimately impacting the elementary schools the most with 20-30 minute delays.

Please know that I am a life-long learner, and will reflect on today's decision to help inform future decisions.