Dear Parents:
After talking with several of you this morning regarding the really poor road conditions you encountered, I thought I would send this message regarding our procedure for determining delays and closures.
Our process isn't very scientific...our director of facilities and I divide the District in half and drive the roads beginning at 4:00 a.m. when we suspect inclement weather. He drives the northern sections of the District, I drive the south. We correspond by cell phone during our evaluation of the driving conditions, and we typically finish between 5:00 and 5:15 a.m. so that we can make a determination on a delay or closure by our 5:30 a.m. deadline.
This morning, while we encountered some isolated icy patches, we had very little trouble navigating the major roads across the District, and in fact, many roads were perfectly clear. As a result, I decided to maintain a normal schedule. After receiving calls regarding conditions specifically along Star Ranch Road later in the morning, I again drove the south end of the District at about 8:00. What I found very quickly was that areas that presented little or no difficulty earlier in the morning proved absolutely impassable and dangerous on my second trip. Not that it matters, but I can only guess that when the wind picked up, what was merely wet a couple of hours earlier became solid ice very quickly and became extremely dangerous.
For those of you who attempted to drive these roads this morning, I am truly sorry that you had to deal with these dangerous conditions. The fact of the matter is that had I encountered at 5:00 a.m. what I encountered at 8:00 a.m, I would have made a different decision; but, that obviously is a moot point. What is important, however, is to know that this isn't the first time we've been caught in this untimely scenario, and it certainly won?t be the last. It will inevitably happen again due to timing or due to the fact that some sections of the District are only slightly impacted while others may be heavily impacted. So while you probably are aware, remember there is never an attendance penalty at any District 12 school for absences due to weather. If you ever feel the roads from your specific neighborhood are too dangerous to travel regardless of our school schedule, I encourage you to use your individual discretion and keep your children at home if you wish.
If you wish to contact me, please feel free to call or email me at your convenience.
Respectfully,
Walt Cooper
Superintendent of Schools
Our process isn't very scientific...our director of facilities and I divide the District in half and drive the roads beginning at 4:00 a.m. when we suspect inclement weather. He drives the northern sections of the District, I drive the south. We correspond by cell phone during our evaluation of the driving conditions, and we typically finish between 5:00 and 5:15 a.m. so that we can make a determination on a delay or closure by our 5:30 a.m. deadline.
This morning, while we encountered some isolated icy patches, we had very little trouble navigating the major roads across the District, and in fact, many roads were perfectly clear. As a result, I decided to maintain a normal schedule. After receiving calls regarding conditions specifically along Star Ranch Road later in the morning, I again drove the south end of the District at about 8:00. What I found very quickly was that areas that presented little or no difficulty earlier in the morning proved absolutely impassable and dangerous on my second trip. Not that it matters, but I can only guess that when the wind picked up, what was merely wet a couple of hours earlier became solid ice very quickly and became extremely dangerous.
For those of you who attempted to drive these roads this morning, I am truly sorry that you had to deal with these dangerous conditions. The fact of the matter is that had I encountered at 5:00 a.m. what I encountered at 8:00 a.m, I would have made a different decision; but, that obviously is a moot point. What is important, however, is to know that this isn't the first time we've been caught in this untimely scenario, and it certainly won?t be the last. It will inevitably happen again due to timing or due to the fact that some sections of the District are only slightly impacted while others may be heavily impacted. So while you probably are aware, remember there is never an attendance penalty at any District 12 school for absences due to weather. If you ever feel the roads from your specific neighborhood are too dangerous to travel regardless of our school schedule, I encourage you to use your individual discretion and keep your children at home if you wish.
If you wish to contact me, please feel free to call or email me at your convenience.
Respectfully,
Walt Cooper
Superintendent of Schools
Two hour delay today! 2/11/13
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