Information on Beavercreek City Schools Closings and Delays
Two Hour Delay
· Information about Beavercreek City Schools will be released to WRGT, WHIO and WDTN radio and television stations early, prior to 6:00 a.m., and should be on the air soon thereafter.
· Information about delays will be posted on our website at www.beavercreek.k12.oh.us.
· A One Call Now notice will be made to all staff and students.
· Buses will pick up students two hours after their scheduled pick up time and students may enter the buildings two hours after the normal starting times.
· Kindergarten will follow the same delay and cancellation procedures as 1st -12th grade students.
· Preschool will be on a Plan B schedule, meaning both morning and afternoon sessions will report, but will have a shortened day. Morning sessions will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Afternoon preschool will meet from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
· Each building has a plan for conducting the remaining instructional time and lunch period.
Closings
· Information about Beavercreek City Schools will be released to WRGT, WHIO and WDTN radio and television stations early, prior to 6:00 a.m., and should be on the air soon thereafter.
· Information about closings will be posted on our website at www.beavercreek.k12.oh.us.
· A One Call Now notice will be made to all staff and students.
· Scheduled school events may continue pending the improvement of weather, temperature or street conditions and media notification.
Notifications
Notifications will be made to our staff and parents through our One Call Now program. However, if staff and parents would like additional notifications, they can sign up for e-mail and text message notifications of school closings and delays.
E-mail alerts:
Beavercreek City Schools - www.beavercreek.k12.oh.us, then go to the “Quicklinks” section on the left hand side of the page, and click on “E-mail Alerts” and follow the directions.
WDTN – To sign up for WDTN e-mail alerts, go to this link and fill in your information: http://www.wdtn.com/generic/news/Blue_Hornet_Registration
WHIO – To sign up for WHIO-TV e-mail alerts, go to this link and click on “School Closings” and fill in your information: http://www.whiotv.com/emailnewsletters/index.html
Text Message Alerts:
WDTN - To sign up for WDTN text message alerts, go to this link and fill in your information: http://www.wdtn.com/subindex/about_us/text_alerts
WHIO – To sign up for WHIO-TV text message alerts, go to this link and fill in your information: http://cf.localwireless.com/wireless/signup.cfm?sid=59
Parents and Student Safety
· A major concern in calling delays or closings is for students who are left alone during delays or school closings. All parents should have a plan in place to ensure the proper supervision and care of their children in these situations. Parents should also discuss the plan with their students at the beginning of the school year and whenever inclement weather is a possibility.
Calamity Days
· Ohio school districts may close five (5) days due to weather or other calamities. If Beavercreek City Schools closes more than five days, the first make-up day (if before the Friday before President’s Day) will be made up the Friday before President’s Day. The next make-up day will be made up on the Monday after Easter. Any further make-up days will be made up by adding to the end of the school year.
The Beavercreek City School District understands that the decision to close schools due to inclement weather or loss of utilities has an enormous effect on all of our families. The following information may help you to better understand the process used when making the decision.
HOW DO WE MAKE OUR DECISION?
When inclement weather or loss of utilities impacts the District, we make the decision whether to close schools based upon a careful analysis of all relevant factors including:
· Information on road conditions from our transportation staff, maintenance staff, and local safety forces.
· Amount of accumulated snow and ice.
· Whether precipitation is expected to continue throughout the day.
· Temperature and wind chill.
· Impact on our bus fleet.
· Weather predictions from satellite systems, local radar, National Weather and NOAA Weather Radio.
· Storm timing.
· Building conditions (such as whether there is electricity and/or heat).
· Discussions with Administrators from area school districts beginning the prior evening.
WHO MAKES THE DECISION?
The Superintendent of Schools, Nick Verhoff, is responsible for the final decision, based upon the factors above and consultation with Gary Sattler, Director of Business Services.
WHEN IS THE DECISION MADE?
By 6:00 a.m., so that we can notify local television and radio stations, post it to our web site, notify staff and families.
WILL WE CLOSE SCHOOLS IF CONDITIONS WORSEN?
Even if weather conditions worsen we cannot reverse our decision in the morning without endangering student safety. When we make the decision to keep the schools open, many parents rely on it and leave for work. If we then send students back home, many will return to empty houses. Once students arrive at school, we feel the safest plan is to keep them at school until the end of the school day.
Although we do our absolute best in this process by carefully considering all information, we know that weather forecasting is an imperfect science and often no perfect decision exists. As always, our top priority is the safety of our students. If you do not feel that it is safe for your child to get to school, use your best judgment as to whether or not he or she should attend.
I hope that this explanation helps in understanding the process used to make the best possible decision for everyone in the district