TO
CLOSE OR NOT TO CLOSE
One of the most difficult decisions an administrator has to make is to
delay or close school during an inclement weather day. We are cognizant of
the aggravation a delay or cancellation may have on some families’ day care
situation and other scheduling situations. However, we have to keep the safety
of our students on the buses as our primary consideration. I thought I’d
take a minute and explain the procedure administrators go through in those
early mornings.
In most districts, including Hopkinton, the Superintendent makes the call
to delay or cancel, of which I am thankful! However, I have been responsible
for the call in another district so I can completely relate to Dr. Ayers’s
precarious position on those white or icy mornings. Generally, he will be
in contact with the Road Agent and Bus Company Coordinator in the morning,
as early as 4:30 AM. Since bus safety is the greatest factor in the decision
making, and considering that there are many different classes of roads in
towns such as ours, the Superintendent has to consider the worst case scenario.
That is why the decision has to go beyond the condition of a Maple St. or
Main St. to the roads that are harder to plow.
A call to delay is made when the Superintendent believes that the roads
will be safe enough in two hours to warrant a reliable ride for the buses.
We are able to count this as an official school day and the time does not
have to be made up. However, if the two hours is not adequate time then
a cancellation of school is made, even if the previous decision was to delay.
The Superintendent then calls the three building Principals and the media
at around 5 AM with his decision and the phone tree is started for staff
in each building. I send out an email with the news to the HMS Email List
from home. If for some reason the Internet is not operational you should .
That is why the most dependable resource is WMUR Channel 9 (they run a continuous
stream of closings on the bottom of their screen) or their web site at:
http://www.thewmurchannel.com/closings/
As soon as I can, I head into Harold Martin as do the custodians. If you
need to contact someone at the school, please call and leave a message if
the telephone is not picked up. I check the answering machine regularly.
No other staff members are required to report so if you have a scheduled meeting
for that day, please call the school the next day to reschedule.
Since we’re on the topic of buses, let me describe our procedure when
a bus problem surfaces. Each bus driver has a two-way radio on board and
can contact their base station in Belmont as well as our school. Our radio
is on all day and we monitor each bus ride, which includes morning and afternoon
commutes as well as mid-day kindergarten. This year we have had a bus break
down as well as a fire in town that required re-routing of an afternoon bus
route. In both cases, we were able to communicate with the driver and the
base station, as well as the Hopkinton Police. When we determine that children
are going to be delivered home much later than normal, we will try to call
all of the families on that bus. However, if it is a relatively short delay
we will not call. If you suspect that a bus is arriving later than normal,
by 10 minutes or so, feel free to call us and we will be able to let you know
what the story is. Since our office staff leaves by 3:15, it may be difficult
to contact the school if I am in a meeting and not in my office. Thus, you
can always call the SAU office at 746-5186.
The bottom line is that safety is "job one". We are always looking for
ways to improve our procedure and I welcome suggestions.
-Bill Carozza