Emergency & Weather Updates

With pending inclement weather coming our way, here are some tips that will help you and your child be better prepared for weather delays and cancellations.

• Monitor school closure/delay messages; and local media for weather and school closure/delay updates.
• Make sure we have your most current phone number on file so you can receive our calls. You can update your contact information here if necessary: Final Forms
• Dress your child for cold weather. Layers are best: sweaters, long pants, winter coats, hats, scarves, socks and boots. Please remind your child not to throw ice or snow at others.
• Allow extra time to get to the bus stop or school. Please be patient if bus routes are delayed due to Weather that may slow them down.
• Remind your child to stand at their place of safety (identified by the bus driver) at bus stops. Buses may need extra room to stop when there is snow or ice on the streets near sidewalks.

Many ask, “What factors are considered when delaying or cancelling school?” Although each day’s weather conditions may dictate a unique decision to delay or cancel school, here are some typical factors used to help make our decision.

➢ First, and foremost, student safety is paramount. We support parents’ rights to take their time when bringing students to school on delayed school days or to keep their child(ren) home if they feel this is the safest decision during inclement weather. We do not count students tardy on days where it is important to take your time.

➢ If a decision to delay or cancel school can be made the night before, we will do our best to make that decision so parents can plan ahead. If the forecast is not certain or the weather model is inconsistent, it may be unclear if a delay or cancellation is best. If this is the case, our team will begin the process of deciding on a delay or cancellation at 4:30 a.m. that morning so we can make an informed decision by 6:00 AM.

➢ We monitor several different weather apps as well as local news programs to see if pending changes in the forecast are positive or if they look worse as we get closer to the start of school.

➢ We begin by driving the city and country roads, looking for drifts as well as snow and ice coverage. We remain in contact with our transportation supervisor who considers bus safety on the roads. Additionally, we work with the city/county to monitor progress of salting/plowing streets when necessary. It’s important for us to note that high school (novice) drivers will be negotiating the current weather conditions when deciding as well.

➢ Temperatures may be an overall factor with our decision. We use the National Weather Wind Chill Advisory Chart as a reference.

➢ Fog delays are much more difficult to predict. As with winter weather, we drive throughout the city and monitor the fog forecast with apps and local news stations. Please Note: Fog conditions can unexpectedly change once a decision to attend school has been made that day. Patchy fog can occur in limited sections of town as well. If this occurs, we encourage parents and students to take their time and be safe.

Where can you find out about school delays/cancellations?

When a decision is made to delay or cancel school, the announcements are made through all of the following sources:

• The Piqua City Schools Facebook page
• The Piqua City Schools Website at www.piqua.org.
• WHIO, WDTN, and Fox news channels
• Finally, a ParentSquare message, call and text will be delivered to all registered phone numbers we have on file. It’s important for parents to keep their contact information updated so we can provide timely messages.

~ Please note: These communications do not all go out at the same time. It takes a moment to put in passwords and create the messages that will go out to all of these formats. It is our intent to provide a variety of formats so parents are sure to receive proper notification.