How We Determine a Snow Day or Delay
Well, we might finally get some significant snowfall over the next forty-eight hours, so I want to remind you of how we determine if we are going to have a snow day or delay. I most certainly do not make the call after getting out of bed and looking out the window.
Around 4:00 a.m. I communicate with our Assistant Superintendent for Management Services, Paul Pelton, along with: members of our transportation department (who are already on the roads by 4:30 a.m.); our own plow crew leader to make sure we can keep up with what is coming down; county and town plow personnel; the police when necessary; sometimes a local weather person; and nearly always neighboring school superintendents (although we do not regularly "make the call together" because our geography differs). All of this takes between thirty and forty-five minutes.
When possible, if the decision to close or delay is made, I try to make that announcement by 5:30 a.m. or earlier. Sometimes I need to wait a little longer, depending on the type of weather and timing of the weather pattern. That is when I hit the roads myself.
The first place I post the decision is on my Twitter account (@cbrownwgcsd), followed by our app, Facebook/@West GeneseeCSD Twitter account, our website, parentlink email and text, and then by an "all-staff" e-mail to our employees. The reason why I choose to post to Twitter first is two-fold. First, I have never seen a delay in transmitting on Twitter, and secondly, many students follow my Twitter feed and they always help get the word out quickly. As a last measure, I contact the local media.
I did some analysis last year and from the time I post to my Twitter it takes about two more minutes to get it to Facebook/District Twitter, and the website. It can take another three to four additional minutes to get the information to e-mail, text, and our app, and it can take as long as fifteen additional minutes for the media to display our decision. These are all of the media options that are available. I am not comfortable with the speed and accuracy of our new phone calling service yet, so I am not going to use that for at least these first couple of snow events. We are planning another test of the phone system over the holiday break.
As a parent, the decision is always yours if you choose to send your child to school. If I DO NOT call a snow day or delay, it means that I would feel comfortable placing my own child on a school bus. If you have children who drive, you have to make the decision to let them drive, take the bus, or drive them in yourself. I always place safety over money and always will, but I respect your choice if you ever disagree with my decision to keep school open. The weather is not completely predictable. With all of this being said, let's hope that we do not have to call too many delays or closings this year!
Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of the week!
Chris
