Dear Cle Elum-Roslyn Students, Parents, and Community Members,
I hope each of you enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!
With a Winter Storm Warning taking effect this afternoon and continuing throughout the night, we may possibly have heavy snowfall amounts ranging from 8-14 inches. I want to alert you to the possibility of a "two-hour delayed start" or "closure" on Wednesday, November 30.
All afterschool activities for today (11/29/22) will continue as previously planned as much of the accumulation should arrive overnight.
As with every weather-related event, our crew will be assessing and closely monitoring the conditions throughout the evening and early morning. We will provide notification regarding any changes to our regular schedule no later than 6:15 am tomorrow.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What would cause a school closure?
A: The CERSD will close its schools when it is determined that the conditions (weather, fire, smoke, flooding, prolonged power outage, etc.) are unsafe for normal school operations.
Q: When schools are closed for the day, what does that mean for before and after-school activities?
A: When schools are closed for the day, all before and after-school activities, athletic practices and events, and the Preschool program are canceled.
Q: How often does the district close its schools due to adverse weather conditions, power outages, or otherwise?
A: In a typical winter we seldom close. However, last year’s historic snow storm closed schools for 3 days. These decisions are not made lightly as we recognize the closure of our schools creates a significant disruption in the lives of the families and community we serve, the CERSD takes the decision to close its schools seriously.
Q: If school is closed, will students be required to make up the day?
A: Yes. If school is closed for the day, the missed school day will be added to the end of the school calendar.
Q: What would cause a two-hour delayed start?
A: Typically weather-related, the CERSD will initiate a two-hour delayed start to the school day when the conditions require additional time to ensure the safe operations of the school district, allowing bus drivers, parents, and our student-drivers the additional time necessary to safely travel to school.
Q: How are programs impacted when operating on a two-hour delayed start?
A: When operating on a two-hour delayed start, bus drivers will begin picking up students two hours later than the normal scheduled time. This means if your student regularly catches their bus at 7:30 am, they would catch the bus at 9:30 am.
Q: How does a two-hour delayed start to the school day impact the rest of the school day and after-school programs?
A: School will let out at the regular time and the afternoon routes will operate on their normal schedule.
Q: How does a two-hour delayed start impact the preschool program? What about TK?
A: In the event of a delayed start to the school day, the morning preschool program will be closed. Our Transitional Kindergarten (TK) classes will operate on a two-hour delayed schedule as well.
Q: What if conditions change or an event takes place during the school day? Will you close schools early?
A: With the rare exception of extreme weather conditions or an event (e.g. fire, prolonged power outage) making it unsafe to remain in the school building(s), we make every effort to avoid closing our schools early. If it is determined that we need to close school early, we would use the lines of communication listed below to notify families of these changes.
Q: How does the CERSD make decisions about changes to the regular school day?
A: It’s not a perfect science given the many variables, but it begins and ends with one constant – the safety of our students, staff, parents, and community members. Working in consultation with the WA DOH,the Kittitas County Sheriff's Office, CERSD Facilities Director and Transportation Director, we assess and evaluate each event using multiple sources of information (weather forecasts, current and predicted road conditions, possible power outages, air quality measures, etc.) in support of its effort to make an informed decision.
Q: What if the CERSD is operating on-time or on a delayed schedule, but I believe the conditions where I live make it unsafe for me or my student(s) to attend school. What should I do?
A: Our Transportation Department provides busing services to a large geographic attendance area. As such, we recognize that the conditions in the Teanaway may vary greatly from those in Ronald. We trust that each parent will make an informed decision that they believe is in the best interest of their student’s safety and well-being. If a parent believes the conditions in their area are unsafe for travel to and from school, they should notify their student’s school that their student will not be attending school and that they are excusing their absence.
Q: How will the CERSD communicate these potential changes to the school schedule?
A: Changes to the regular school schedule will be communicated using several sources of information. These include:
School Messenger – With School Messenger, we will phone, text or email you whenever there’s a change to the regular school day schedule. Please make sure the school has accurate contact information. To opt into receiving text messages regarding closures Text Yes or Y to 67587.
CERSD App – This year we will also be using push notifications on our CERSD app. Notifications will also be visible in the Live Feed on the app.
Social Media – We will post updates about school closures, delays and emergency bus route modifications on the district and building Facebook pages.
Q: When can I expect the district to notify me of the changes?
A: The CERSD will make every attempt to notify (by text alerts, email, the official CERSD Facebook page, CERSD App push notifications and/or robo calls) students, parents, and community members of changes to the regular school schedule no later than 6:15 am.
Q: What if conditions should worsen?
A: If after notifying (by text alerts, email, the official CERSD Facebook page, CERSD App push notifications and/or robo calls) students, staff, and families of a two-hour delayed start, conditions should worsen, requiring us to close our schools, we will notify families no later than 8:00 am.
By doing so, we hope to reduce disruptions to the existing school calendar for students, staff, and families, minimize the number of days that would potentially need to be made up at the end of the school year, and most importantly, provide all students, parents and staff with the ability to travel to and from school and work safely.
Be Well,
John Belcher
Superintendent
Cle Elum-Roslyn School District