In the case of school closing, one of the following three options will be selected:

1) Optional Teacher Workday. In this case, ten-month employees have the option to report to work, take annual leave, have a full day’s deduction if they do not have annual leave, or make-up the absence according to state personnel policy guidelines. Employees will have to determine the safety of coming to school just as twelve-month employees have always done. 

2) Closed for Students and Staff. In this case all ten-month instructional staff would have a forced annual leave or full day’s deduction. The student make-up day would be scheduled elsewhere in the calendar, possibly on a day previously designated as annual leave/vacation. Instructional personnel would have the option to make-up the day at an agreed upon time, either on a school-by-school basis or on a system wide make-up day. Twelve-month employees would report to work, take annual leave or a full day’s deduction.

3) Closed for Everyone. The third option would be to declare the school system closed for all staff. In this case, all employees would have a forced annual leave or full day’s deduction with the option to make-up the day at an agreed upon time. 

 Unless it is a situation where we have buildings that are unusable due to some condition such as burst pipes or power outages, we will most likely select option one. This gives you the opportunity to decide on the use of your leave days. Options two and three would be reserved for unusable facilities and situations where we feel it is completely impractical to open the schools. When we do miss days, as in the past, the board of education will have final authority in determining the make-up schedule. We will use make-up days as established in the school calendar, where possible, and make other scheduling arrangements for staff that wish to make-up time.

Early Dismissal - When school is dismissed early due to inclement conditions or other emergency situations, all ten-month employees are to remain at school until students are adequately cared for at the individual school. Staff members may be dismissed at that time by their principal if he/she believes that conditions merit such a dismissal. The principal may work with staff members who live farther away and allow them to leave as soon as possible while other staff members who live closer to the school remain and assist with the dismissal of the children. As we all know, even with the best efforts in notifying parents, some children remain at school for a period of time. Principals should have a plan in place to provide for adequate supervision for the students left.

All twelve-month employees are expected to remain for their regular working day unless dismissed by the superintendent due to severe weather. If twelve-month employees decide to leave earlier than their regular workday, annual leave or appropriate leave will be charged.

Delay Start - When school is delayed due to inclement weather or other unforeseen circumstances, all ten-month employees are expected to arrive at school at their earliest safest time.  We all know parents will bring children early in the morning. Therefore, administrators need assistance from staff in providing for students as they arrive. Procedures should be in place to accommodate these children. Under no circumstances should children have to remain outside on very cold and/or snowy mornings. If ten-month employees elect to arrive late then they should work with their supervisor to make-up the time or have a deduction for the time missed.  Twelve-month employees are expected to arrive at their normal time when we are having a delayed start. Again, failure to report to work would result in leave being charged.  I hope you will exercise caution and use good judgment in making the decision about your response to the various school closing situations. If you have specific questions, please direct those to your supervisor who can assist you or to me.