Last Friday, schools throughout the region closed when a winter storm caused icy roads, plunging temperatures, and sleet and snow in central Texas. On Thursday evening, as the storm worsened, we made a decision to close school and notified our school community as quickly as possible.
When bad weather or other emergencies require school schedules to be changed on short notice, our district makes every effort to notify the school community as soon as a decision is made. We are very aware that parents and families need to hear from us, so that they can plan accordingly.
Last week, I heard from families that expressed frustration about the timing of our decision to close schools, and when we notify them. I want to assure our school community that we do our best to provide timely information through as many channels as possible. However, we do not always have control over the timing of a final decision.
Today, after a sunny weekend, another winter storm is expected to bring more sleet and freezing temperatures.
We have a handful of time-sensitive opportunities to make decisions about weather closings. The first would be to cancel after-school activities, which we did not do today. The second is to make a decision in time for the 10 o'clock news. This evening, the National Weather Service issued a Winter Weather Advisory for the Austin area until noon tomorrow. Therefore, we are able to notify families of a two-hour delay in the opening of school, bus schedules, and office hours for tomorrow, Tuesday, Jan. 28th. I announced this at tonight’s Board meeting and through various communication channels this evening.
We will continue to monitor the weather, and will only call families again at or about 6:00 in the morning if the district needs to cancel school, since families have indicated that they do not wish to receive phone calls any earlier in the morning on the day of a delay or school closing.
As soon as we are aware that bad weather may be a possibility, representatives of affected district operations gather to respond. Affected operations include transportation, facilities, food service, law enforcement including emergency operations staff, after school programming, athletics, fine arts and others. We share information provided to us via conference calls arranged by the City of Austin's Homeland Security and Emergency Management Office. The largest partners in these conference calls are the City of Austin, Travis County, the University of Texas and AISD, but many others participate.
In these conference calls, we rely heavily on information provided by the National Weather Service and local meteorologists to provide the best and most reliable information. The meteorologists often want to wait as late as possible, when better data allows for more accurate forecasts and precise solutions. This wait can conflict with the district's need to notify families early as possible.
AISD staff is present at the Emergency Management Center from the time it is opened by the City of Austin until the time the City closes it. While discussions are taking place with other partner entities, the district's communications office prepares to provide information to families as soon as it is available. Information is provided through web announcements, press releases, social media and text and telephone messaging to families.
Some families do not wish to receive automated telephone calls notifying them of changes in school schedules due to weather events. They can opt instead to receive text or e-mail notifications by visitinghttp://www.austinisd.org/communications/school-district-relations/schoolmessenger/families.
We understand our school community's desire for timely information, and we do our very best to balance this desire with the need for coordinated community-wide emergency planning in these situations.
When bad weather or other emergencies require school schedules to be changed on short notice, our district makes every effort to notify the school community as soon as a decision is made. We are very aware that parents and families need to hear from us, so that they can plan accordingly.
Last week, I heard from families that expressed frustration about the timing of our decision to close schools, and when we notify them. I want to assure our school community that we do our best to provide timely information through as many channels as possible. However, we do not always have control over the timing of a final decision.
Today, after a sunny weekend, another winter storm is expected to bring more sleet and freezing temperatures.
We have a handful of time-sensitive opportunities to make decisions about weather closings. The first would be to cancel after-school activities, which we did not do today. The second is to make a decision in time for the 10 o'clock news. This evening, the National Weather Service issued a Winter Weather Advisory for the Austin area until noon tomorrow. Therefore, we are able to notify families of a two-hour delay in the opening of school, bus schedules, and office hours for tomorrow, Tuesday, Jan. 28th. I announced this at tonight’s Board meeting and through various communication channels this evening.
We will continue to monitor the weather, and will only call families again at or about 6:00 in the morning if the district needs to cancel school, since families have indicated that they do not wish to receive phone calls any earlier in the morning on the day of a delay or school closing.
As soon as we are aware that bad weather may be a possibility, representatives of affected district operations gather to respond. Affected operations include transportation, facilities, food service, law enforcement including emergency operations staff, after school programming, athletics, fine arts and others. We share information provided to us via conference calls arranged by the City of Austin's Homeland Security and Emergency Management Office. The largest partners in these conference calls are the City of Austin, Travis County, the University of Texas and AISD, but many others participate.
In these conference calls, we rely heavily on information provided by the National Weather Service and local meteorologists to provide the best and most reliable information. The meteorologists often want to wait as late as possible, when better data allows for more accurate forecasts and precise solutions. This wait can conflict with the district's need to notify families early as possible.
AISD staff is present at the Emergency Management Center from the time it is opened by the City of Austin until the time the City closes it. While discussions are taking place with other partner entities, the district's communications office prepares to provide information to families as soon as it is available. Information is provided through web announcements, press releases, social media and text and telephone messaging to families.
Some families do not wish to receive automated telephone calls notifying them of changes in school schedules due to weather events. They can opt instead to receive text or e-mail notifications by visitinghttp://www.austinisd.org/communications/school-district-relations/schoolmessenger/families.
We understand our school community's desire for timely information, and we do our very best to balance this desire with the need for coordinated community-wide emergency planning in these situations.