Mountain Home School District 193
Mountain Home, Idaho

As time and circumstances allow,  closures/late
starts will be listed on the school district home page.
The primary sources of information are the radio and
television stations listed below.  

School Cancellation, Closure, or Late Start
(Weather/Emergency Related), and Inclement Weather Procedures

 
Given the lost educational opportunities and disruption of family schedules that cancellation or closure of school, or emergency late start entails, every effort will be made to open and keep school in session. 

SCHOOL CANCELLATION

The decision to cancel school due to hazardous weather or emergencies is made by the Superintendent of Schools, and is based on information gathered from various agencies and personnel.  Information regarding school closures will be disseminated through local (Mountain Home, Boise) media, the school district website (http://www:mtnhomesd.org), and the school district hotline (587-2580). 

The foremost factor considered regarding school cancellation due to weather conditions is student safety, mainly arriving at school, and back home, safely.  Given assurance that the buses can transport children safely, school will be in session. Parents who transport, or allow their children to drive to school, or whose children walk to school, have the responsibility to decide whether to send their children to school based on weather conditions in their specific locale. If parents believe it is too cold or too dangerous for their children to walk, drive, or be driven to school, they have the option to keep their children at home. However, children not in attendance at school are marked absent with an excused absence and where appropriate, make-up schoolwork will be assigned.

 Only under the most severe conditions can the decision to cancel school be made in time to announce the night before.  The cancellation announcement will generally be made by 6:00 a.m. of the school day, following a check of road conditions by the school district transportation director and other key personnel and agencies.

 Information regarding school cancellation will be given to the following media sources:

  Patrons are to be encouraged to monitor these resources prior to calling the schools or the district administration office, due to potential limited staff available to handle telephone calls.

Notification of Cancellation

A District Phone Tree has been developed which directs the notification of the Board of Trustees, administrators, directors and other key personnel by district administration.  Each school and employee group shall develop a similar phone tree for the timely, accurate notification of all district staff.

Building administrators, having primary on scene responsibilities, are required to be present at the building to ensure that students are not stranded at school and to provide a means of communication with patrons and district administration.  To ensure that students are not stranded, administrators must be at their school from the time students normally arrive until all are safely back in custody of parents or guardians.

All regularly employed School District Personnel should be prepared to report to work in accordance with their job assignment and school district calendar unless otherwise directed.  A determination of whether to report to work will be made by district administration.  Depending on conditions, a shortened workday may be declared.  In the event of a shortened workday is declared, any leave already approved/taken, will be for a full day.  Each staff member is personally responsible for their own safety and is expected to report to work as close to their normal reporting time as they can safely do so.

The cancellation of extra-curricular activities due to hazardous weather conditions, including inter-scholastic events and practices, will be addressed on a case-by-case basis.  Parents and participants are personally responsible for their own safety and must make the determination of whether or not to attend the event.  Repercussions are not to be made against those who choose not to participate.

SCHOOL CLOSURE

School closure, closing school during the school day, is a very rare occurrence, due to problems of ensuring the safe arrival home of students, and the uncertainty of an adult presence in the home during the school day.  However, in the event of this circumstance, normal bus transportation arrangements will be followed.  Younger students will be escorted to the buses, or kept at school until parents, or emergency contacts, are notified.  Older students will be dismissed immediately, including those driving personal vehicles.  In all cases, selected school employees will remain at the school and student’s accountability will be maintained

LATE START (Weather or Emergency Related)

Given hazardous or emergency conditions, the start of the school day may be delayed while roads are cleared or other situations are addressed.  If the schools can be opened by 10:30 a.m., the announcement will be made using media sources and the school district website and hotline.  School buses will run their normal routes at the later time.

Inclement Weather

Administrators will take into consideration safety and health issues, age of children, and weather factors, including wind chill, when making determinations regarding curtailing outside activity.  Parents are responsible for dressing their children appropriately, and for ensuring children arrive at school not earlier than the time published, at which school personnel will assume supervisory responsibility for the children, and also for the afternoon session of kindergarten.

 Mountain Home school district and building administrators will use the following guidelines when determining whether or not to curtail or cancel outside activity during inclement weather.  When the temperature and wind chill are:

Adopted: February 9, 2004
Revised : February 26, 2007
Revised :  January 25, 2008