In the wake of parent inquiries regarding the district’s decision to cancel classes on Jan. 7 and 8 last week, Dr. Al Roberts, the D97 superintendent, issued a statement detailing the process of emergency closings.
Roberts said, when faced with inclement weather conditions, the district closely monitors the forecasts and evaluates the “conditions of our buildings and school grounds;” engages in ongoing dialogue with community partners; and evaluates the district’s “capacity to provide vital services under the conditions that exist (transportation, food service, etc.).”
Roberts noted that the district’s “threshold for canceling school is a forecast for wind chills in the range of 25 below zero or worse. Under those conditions, frostbite is estimated to set in within 15 minutes of exposure to the elements. This poses a serious threat to students who walk to our buildings on a daily basis, including some who live as far away as a mile from school and others who may not have the clothes (coats, hats, gloves, boots, etc.) necessary to protect them from the cold.”
Exacerbating conditions were the fact that the buses responsible for transporting more than 1,400 students kept “cutting out,” according to what bus company officials told the superintendent, who said in his statement that the service interruption would have led to delays. Roberts said that the company is currently working to address those weather-related mechanical issues.
The district is required by law to make up the two days it canceled last week due to weather in order to meet the minimum legal requirement of 176 days that schools in Illinois must be in session. Roberts said that the district was faced with the options of reducing the length of spring break; canceling their January 16 Institute Day — the state mandates a minimum of four each year; holding classes on at least one of the remaining holidays; or lengthening the school year “as we have done in the past.”
Ultimately, the district opted to extend the school year to June 4, although middle school ceremonies for Brooks and Julian will be held as scheduled on Tuesday, June 4, with June 2 serving as the last day for eighth graders.
“While we realize this decision may ultimately impact our General State Aid as it relates to student attendance, we believe any attempt to switch both the date and location at this juncture would be unfair to the hundreds of families who made their plans for this special occasion months ago,” the statement read.
“Lastly, there is a chance we may encounter additional weather-related disruptions as the school year progresses. If we do need to take additional days off due to an unforeseen circumstance, the latest we anticipate our school year will end is Tuesday, June 9. This is because we only have three emergency days remaining. After that, we are allowed by the state to categorize other closures due to ‘conditions beyond the control of the district that poses a hazardous threat to the health and safety of the students’ as ‘Act of God days.'”
