Clinton Township Newsletter

1 0 M a r c h 2 0 1 5 www.ClintonTwpNewsletter.com www.ClintonTwpNewsletter.com C L I N T O N T O W N S H I P S C H O O L N E W S www.ctsd.k12.nj.us Clinton Township Schl District Miion Statement: The Clinton Township School District, in part- nership with the community, achieves excellence for each child by ensuring a meaningful and challenging educational experience in a sup- portive environment, developing life-long learners who are responsible and productive citizens. A L e t t e r f r o m Dr. Drucilla Clark, Superintendent of Schools Friday, Mch 6 Dear Parents and Community Members: Since we are having another one of those winters, I thought it was time to repeat a column on calling snow days. One of the first things students always ask the Superintendent is, "How do you make a snow call?" It is not an exact science and I often think that a doctorate in meteorology might be more helpful in the winter than one in education. Some winters have easy calls. This winter seems to have another challenging weather pattern. It is not the weather itself that challenges, but the timing of the storm that makes a difference. A raging blizzard at 4 a.m. that will have accumulations of 6 to 10 inches is usually a closing. But make that same blizzard come in at possibly 11 A.M. and maybe 3-6 inches, or make it freezing rain with a possible change to all rain and it gets complicated. First come the predictions. Then comes the reality of being responsible for student and staff safety. This year we all experienced the crazy predictions of the Blizzard of 2015 that wasn't, at least for Hunterdon County, NJ. As a Superintendent, I listen to weather predictions very carefully every morning and evening. If there is a concern that will impact schools, students or buses, I am up by 4 a.m. to look at weather maps, read OEM reports, consult with other Superintendents in the area, speak to transportation coordinators and possibly with the local police concerning road and traffic conditions. Some of you may not realize that the transportation people go out around 3:30 AM to check road conditions and even check the temperature of the pavement for freezing and ice. I consider how well I can get students to school and home safely, as well as the impact on family schedules and staff safety. Once we gather as many facts as possible, a call is made. There is also a level of experience over years of making these calls that helps, but it is not foolproof. One of my biggest concerns is ice and this winter seems to be creating icy road conditions. Buses can often plow through some snowy roads, but in ice they just slide. The same process happens for early dismissals or delayed openings with some time changes. Delayed openings are considered when it buys some time for uncertain conditions, or when the weather requires some early road clearing and road conditions are set to improve. An early dismissal call must be made for the Clinton Township schools by 10:30 a.m. so parents and the bus company can make plans for changes. Sometimes it is unclear that early or we get a surprise and everyone needs to get home and off the roads as early as possible. Even with an early dismissal, our last bus runs don't come in until around two in the afternoon. We have four schools in Clinton Township, with multiple schedules and different age students. We have mid-day runs for kindergarteners and preschoolers too. The high schools may have one dismissal time, but we have multiple bus runs and on a full day we still have buses and students on the road until 4:15 in the afternoon. Even short snow bursts can impact traffic conditions and cause delays. So when making decisions, late bus runs and those early morning and mid-day runs with the littlest students must also be taken into consideration. The Board Office never closes shop completely until the last bus call is in and we know our students are safe. Timing is everything. A small wiggle in the forecast can make our preparedness and safety concerns look silly. Every once in a while, a Superintendent is certain of a forecast and makes a call ahead, only to be fooled as the sun is shining and all is well, except for the avalanche of emails facing them within hours or sometimes minutes. We are always weighing the need for as much certainty as possible with the need to give families as much time as necessary to prepare for work and schedule changes. Each of us well know the demands of jobs and households and the impact it has each time we make a schedule change. It is never our favorite thing to do. Most think these decisions only impact us in winter, but we have all experienced closing due to storms of all sorts, at all times of the year. Many of our classrooms are not air- conditioned and heat can create difficult building conditions as well. Closings occur due to fires, floods, power outages, temperature control and yes, even strange odors. Closing decisions come in all shapes and sizes. Fortunately our schools have emergency preparedness plans in all shapes and sizes too. This year we again have four emergency closing days built into the Clinton Township school calendar. All four days have already been utilized as of this writing. • We already passed the other deadlines for utilizing days within the school calendar before February 16. • At this writing, we have utilized our sixth snow day, extending two days at the end of the school year, making the last day June 18. • We can then add one more day to the end of the year if necessary. • After that we would start to take away up to four days at spring recess, beginning Friday April 10, working backward and ending on Tuesday April 7. • Then if more days are needed, we extend the school year through June 30, 2015. *If you are uncertain of where we are as of this writing, please contact your local school to get the latest update. Early dismissals and delayed openings do not count as closings. You may also find this information on the Clinton Township School Calendar. I hope this gives a little insight into the decision-making process regarding emergency closings and delays. Next time you are casually watching the weather report and if there is a snow prediction, think of all the superintendents who are now dialing phones and watching weather maps trying to decipher how to make a decision in the best interest of students and staff. This winter, they may also be getting a little grayer and developing a few more wrinkles. Then you can chuckle and send them a few good wishes. I am now wishing for an early spring and hoping that groundhog was wrong! Sincerely, Dr. Drucilla Clark, Superintendent of Schools "N the wt dctt" –Wiam S hakpee

• Cover