Winter Weather Procedures

With the severe cold and winter weather upon us, I’ve been asked many questions about the decision making process to delay or close Reynoldsburg City Schools. So to help parents and students, I have prepared some answers to the most common questions received this school year.

First, our strong preference is to remain open, for the education and well-being of our students. Closing school creates significant inconvenience for our families, and in some cases, means children will not be supervised during the day or will not have access to a nutritious lunch. We believe it is in our students’ best interest to remain in session when possible. Parents, of course, may decide to keep their children home on certain days we remain open; that is their right and responsibility.

When assessing the safety of the morning commute, our focus is on school transportation. Are the temperatures and wind chills causing a frost-bite risk for children waiting 15-30 minutes at school bus stops (generally about -20 degrees)? Can school bus drivers navigate their routes with proper traction and visibility? Is the timing of the weather event such that city crews will not have time to plow or treat main roads?

District personnel monitor road conditions overnight. We stay in contact with city road crews and monitor local radar as well as weather forecasts as part of the decision making process. Occasionally, a two-hour delay is sufficient to allow roads to be cleared or temperatures to rise.

School is delayed or canceled only when it is necessary. We know that these changes can cause some added stress on our families, so we make the decision as early as possible to allow parents to make arrangements for children staying home.

Once the decision is made, we use multiple avenues to communicate. We notify television and radio stations, post on social media, update our website, and send emails, texts and phone calls to families. Although launching all of these communications takes about 15 minutes total, we have experienced delays and failures in all of them at one time or another. That is why we continue to use every communications avenue available to us.

With our recent cold snap, I’ve been asked several times how many calamity days our district is allowed for this school year. The State of Ohio has switched to a required minimum of hours for instruction instead of the long-standing number of required school days. That means that the state will not force Reynoldsburg to make-up instructional time unless we were to miss about three weeks of school. However, the district could employ make-up days if there is an educational need.

The board of education has set potential make-up days for May 29 and June 1, 2, 3, and 4. If we were to employ make-up time, we would provide ample notice to families.

For more information about school policies log onto www.reyn.org. For more updates, school delays and cancellation alerts, check our website and follow us on Twitter at @ReynSchools or follow your school on Facebook.

Tina Thomas-Manning
Superintendent
Reynoldsburg City Schools