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School Closure/Emergency Procedures
When inclement weather indicates a potential need to close schools, the district works closely with First Student Transportation to determine the condition of area roads for travel. When a trial run of our routes indicates unsafe travel, the district will announce school closures, delays, or the use of snow routes in the Carus area.The district has several ways to communicate with our parents, students, and families in these situations. Read on for your options for timely notification:
1. Our closure/delay information is posted into the Flash News system. The notice is sent to all media (television, radio, newspapers) where it can be viewed immediately on the Flash Alert web site and on all major tv channels' web sites under School Closures.
2. The closure or delay information is then posted to the district web sites and found in a red announcement notice on each school and district home web page. This message is posted within minutes of the decision to close/delay.
3. Text messages and email notifications are automatically sent from the Flash Alert system as soon as the closure/delay has been posted. These are sent/received within moments of the initial posting. You can sign up to receive these notifications from the link posted above.
4. Television stations will broadcast school closures/delays, usually as a 'crawler' at the bottom of the tv screen. These are picked up from the earlier notification and entered into their system manually so it may take at least 15 minutes and sometimes much longer. We may experience problems with this service, so check multiple stations if you don't see Canby listed at a time when it seems obvious that closure might be announced. Don't rely on one source.
5. Area radio stations will announce closures. Several radio stations also broadcast the closures in Spanish.
6. Superintendent Steach will send out direct email messages to our parent and staff listservs. After signing up for a school listserv, parents are also included in the Superintendent's emails to parents. Each school web site has a link to sign up, under popular links. This is a great way to stay in touch with your child's principal regularly and also receive information from Superintendent Steach on occasion.
At times the need to close school becomes apparent the evening before. When possible, Superintendent Steach will announce the closure/delay the previous evening so that parents have an opportunity to make arrangements for childcare, etc. Otherwise, when morning road conditions are treacherous, the Superintendent makes the decision by 6:00 a.m. to close or delay the start of school.
Sometimes the weather is fine when buses start out but may turn ugly after students are in school. In this case, we notify the media of an early dismissal and use the same notification process as outlined above. Elementary parents also receive a phone call from school when an early dismissal decision is made. The buses then deliver students back home or to the emergency drop off location indicated on the student enrollment form.
During inclement weather, the district's first priority is the safety of its students. We strive to make the best decision possible with the information at hand in a timely manner. When the conditions are questionable, the district will choose the safest option available. These decisions are not made lightly as we value each and every instructional day for our students. We appreciate your patience as we work through these difficult decisions.
EMERGENCY PROCEDURES
Canby School District is always in the process of updating and revising its emergency response plan. Our main objectives are to attend to the health and welfare of your children in the event of an emergency and to see that they all arrive home safely by walking, school bus, or transportation provided by parents.
It is impossible to foresee all the potential emergencies, but we have studied the most effective way to use our resources to respond immediately to those emergencies that cannot be avoided. Any disaster will disrupt the normal way of doing things. It will cause inconvenience to all of us. We share the responsibilities as school administrators and as parents.
IN MOST EMERGENCIES, STUDENTS WILL REMAIN AND BE CARED FOR AT THEIR SCHOOL. IN THE RARE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY THAT PROHIBITS THE CONTINUED USE OF A SCHOOL (SUCH AS A BROKEN GAS OR WATER MAIN, A FIRE, OR A SUDDEN LOSS OF UTILITIES IN BAD WEATHER), STUDENTS AND STAFF WILL BE MOVED IMMEDIATELY TO AN ALTERNATE SITE. IN THE CASE OF SEVERE WEATHER CONDITIONS, STUDENTS MAY BE TRANSPORTED HOME BY BUS OR PARENTS BEFORE THE NORMAL DISMISSAL TIME.
We ask you to follow these guidelines if you hear rumors of any school emergency:
1. TURN ON YOUR RADIO OR TELEVISON. We will keep the media accurately informed of any emergency.
2. PLEASE DO NOT TELEPHONE THE SCHOOL. We have limited phone lines. These MUST be used to respond to the emergency.
3. PLEASE DO NOT COME TO THE SCHOOL, UNLESS REQUESTED, TO PICK UP YOUR CHILD AT SCHOOL. Any emergency involving your child's school may mean emergency vehicles and disaster workers must be able to get to the school building. If the emergency necessitates release of staff and students, follow these instructions:
Stay tuned to the radio and television stations for updated, accurate reports and information provided by the school district administration about when and where to pick up your child.