Click to learn more about Everett School emergency closures
Winter seems to have finally arrived. Two factors are behind decisions about delaying or closing school:
1. Safety. Each decision to close or delay school is made by a team of people – some who are out on the roads as early as 3 a.m. Based upon predictions, we monitor the weather continuously and are in touch with neighboring school districts about weather patterns in their areas. Because our boundaries extend from Marysville in the north to Bothell in the south, and because the terrain and the weather in that distance vary drastically, we make the same decision for the entire district – either all of the schools start two hours late, or all of them are closed for the day.
Students from the north end of the district attend schools in the south and vice versa. If we determine that there are areas dangerous for them to traverse, and we have no clarity that the conditions will become safe between 6 a.m. (when some are on the road to get to before-school activities) and when the buses begin picking up students for school, we either delay or cancel. In some areas of the district, even a two-hour delay is not enough time for roads to be safe for students to walk or ride to school.
2. Early notification and concern for families. We know that closing or delaying is a disruption for families. For that reason, we make the decision and send notification using our automated calling system beginning at 5:45 a.m. It is never our desire to close school, and we make that decision very carefully, knowing that it will be the “right” decision for some and an unreasonable one for others – especially in a district with such a large area and varying terrain. We communicate that decision as quickly and efficiently as possible once it is made to give families time to plan.
Except in those situations when weather information can be confirmed 24 hours in advance, each decision to delay or close school is made on a day-by-day basis.
January 16, 2012
Everett