Superintendent Letter: Extreme Cold Predicted for Central New York

January 28, 2019

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As you well know, weather can be tricky in our part of the country this time of year.  There are several considerations in making a decision on whether to start school on-time, delay or close school.  Admittedly, weather related decisions are a challenge to all school superintendents.

Over the past two decades, the ability of the National Weather Service and other services to predict changes in the weather has greatly improved.  To this point, over the next 1-3 days, there is a prediction of a polar vortex arriving in our region.  Explained simply, the polar vortex is the transport of arctic air into our region.  You may remember the polar vortex in February of 2015, which was one of the worst ever, and produced our coldest month on record.

This type of weather prediction always leads to the question about school delays and closings.  We generally do not close school unless the wind chill is 20 degrees below zero (or greater) at the school during the morning bus runs, and the decision to close or delay is directly related to the time students would be exposed to wind chill temperatures.

In the event that we do have the brutal cold that is being forecasted, we ask parents to keep their children inside until you can see the bus in front of your home.  During these extremely cold days, our bus drivers are asked to wait for their students to walk to the bus from their house, and on drop off, from the bus to their house.  In addition, if your child walks to school or is dropped off, please make sure your child is dressed properly for the time of exposure.  It is not just the walk to and from school, the car or the bus that a student should be prepared for, but also the possibility that we’ll have to evacuate the building during an emergency.

Thank you for your cooperation as we navigate the challenges… and beauty… of winter in Central New York.

Sincerely,

Lynda Quick
Superintendent of Schools