Early Dismissals?
The decision to dismiss school early is always based on the safety of the kids... but how will you find out what's going on?Published: January 6, 2010
Updated: January 6, 2010
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COLUMBUS, Ohio—Thousands of parents—and students—will be glued to the TV and the internet for the next few mornings, trying to find out if their schools are closed because of the weather.
The traditional media (radio and TV) are still the major source for school closings, but many school districts are also turning to the web, personal technology and social media.
“We change our web site home page and we put it out on Facebook and we also tweet it on Twitter,“ says Sandy Nekoloff of the South-Western City Schools.
SWCS sent a letter home with students early in the school year to let parents know about dozens of outlets that will have updated information. On foul-weather days, the district starts assessing the conditions by 3 a.m.
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“We really try to make the decision no later than 5:30 in the morning,“ says Nekoloff, “so our parents can plan their day.“
South-Western has a policy of not using one- or two-hour delays. The district is either open or closed. And all the districts NBC 4 contacted today say they try to avoid dismissing early unless it’s
absolutely necessary.
“We know it’s a strain on parents and families whenever there’s an early dismissal but the safety of our students is always the first concern,“ says Kim Norris of Columbus City Schools.
CCS will be calling more than 40,000 homes Wednesday night to give parents a recorded heads-up.
“We’ll have a message going out tonight to parents,“ Norris says, “letting them know that they need to have game plan just in case there’s early dismissal for our high school and middle school students.“
The phone call to Columbus City Schools parents said, “Columbus City Schools is open tomorrow—Thursday, Jan. 7. However, due to the potential for bad weather and road conditions tomorrow, you should be prepared in the event there is a need to dismiss our Middle and High School students early. Elementary School students would be dismissed at the normal time. Again, school is open for Thursday. However, you should be prepared with any child care arrangements should we have the need to dismiss our Middle School and High School students early due to weather conditions.
Our school closing information is always available on local TV and radio and our website at Columbus.k12.oh.us. Please make sure you children dress appropriately for cold weather and if you have any questions, you can call our FACTline at 221-3228.“
Each district has its own notification system and they’re all different. We’ve compiled a list of some of them on this page.
Columbus City Schools
Radio & TV
Automated phone calls to 40,000+ parents
Twitter
http://www.columbus.k12.oh.us
South-Western City Schools
Radio & TV
Facebook
Twitter
http://www.swcs.us
Phone trees for staff only
The Ohio State University
Radio & TV
E-mails to staff and students
Text messages only in major emergencies
http://www.osu.edu
Hilliard City Schools
Radio & TV
E-blast system for parents who’ve signed up to receive e-mails
http://www.hilliardschools.org
Lancaster City Schools
Radio & TV, including LSN
Penn Alert (automatic phone calls) for parents who signed up
Update line: 740.687.7300 - press ‘1’ for weather closings
http://www.lancaster.k12.oh.us/
Pickerington Local Schools
Radio and TV
http://www.pickerington.k12.oh.us
Twitter: PLSD
E-mail to anyone who has signed up (6,700 people on the list now)
Parents can sign up for e-mail notices via the web site
Limited text messaging
Phone trees for staff only
Reynoldsburg City Schools
Radio & TV
Robocalls to parents on record
http://www.reyn.org/
Westerville City Schools
Radio & TV
Posted “prominently” on the district web site
http://www.wcsoh.org
Worthington City Schools
Radio & TV
http://www.worthington.k12.oh.us
Twitter: WCS District
Parents can still sign up on the web site to get Twitter updates
Phone trees for staff only
For additional information, stay with nbc4i.com and NBC 4 and refresh nbc4i.com—Where Accuracy Matters.
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