I can tell you that probably the absolute most difficult decision that I have to make is a weather call. Ultimately the decision as to whether or not to cancel school, delay the start time of school, or proceed as normal comes down to me. I do not take this decision lightly, nor do I randomly make the decision myself.
I consult a number of people. This starts with our district staff, continues with fellow superintendents in the area, and also includes Williamson County and Travis County Emergency Operations personnel along with National Weather Service Meteorologists.
The first thing we do is listen in on the county weather calls, where Wilco or Travis County Emergency Personnel moderate a call between all available parties including schools, cities, and county agencies as well as TXDOT and the National Weather Service. We are given weather probabilities and best/worst case scenarios. The road service agencies detail current conditions and precautions they are taking.
I then participate in conversations with area superintendents about the weather, the situation, and the probabilities. We try to work in unison and share information as much as possible so that we can get as clear a picture as we can,
Additionally, district staff start driving the roads in our district. For JISD, this usually means that our transportation director always goes, and I sometimes accompany her or drive to different areas. We compare information and share notes on current conditions in JISD. In addition, other district staff communicate with other districts and other entities, or just coordinate messages between district staff. This could include very simple data - for example yesterday afternoon, our drivers reported back to the transportation director that the afternoon drive was much easier than the morning route for one simple reason - they could see the roads, especially where we had potholes on our rural county roads that often had ice patches. This information was critical in our announcement of a late start today.
As I stated above, I take this decision very seriously - our ultimate decision comes down to can we guarantee safety in getting to school.
We felt strongly on Monday that we could guarantee our students safety in getting to school - the temperature had just started falling to the freezing level early in the Monday morning, and we were seeing ice, but it was not seriously impacting roads. We knew the biggest area of concern on that morning was the bridges over I-35 and we knew that TXDOT was taking care of them. Tuesday was different because of the prolonged period of time we were below freezing. Our rural areas concerned us since our drivers could not see the icy patches early in the morning when we start rolling buses about 5:45.
I am blessed to have a great staff that cares about our students. One of the often overlooked parts of this staff is our BUS DRIVERS. They truly care about our students and are often the first face they see when coming to school. They take their jobs very seriously and are truly concerned with the well being of all students.
I hope this helps you better understand the process we go through in these winter conditions.
I consult a number of people. This starts with our district staff, continues with fellow superintendents in the area, and also includes Williamson County and Travis County Emergency Operations personnel along with National Weather Service Meteorologists.
The first thing we do is listen in on the county weather calls, where Wilco or Travis County Emergency Personnel moderate a call between all available parties including schools, cities, and county agencies as well as TXDOT and the National Weather Service. We are given weather probabilities and best/worst case scenarios. The road service agencies detail current conditions and precautions they are taking.
I then participate in conversations with area superintendents about the weather, the situation, and the probabilities. We try to work in unison and share information as much as possible so that we can get as clear a picture as we can,
Additionally, district staff start driving the roads in our district. For JISD, this usually means that our transportation director always goes, and I sometimes accompany her or drive to different areas. We compare information and share notes on current conditions in JISD. In addition, other district staff communicate with other districts and other entities, or just coordinate messages between district staff. This could include very simple data - for example yesterday afternoon, our drivers reported back to the transportation director that the afternoon drive was much easier than the morning route for one simple reason - they could see the roads, especially where we had potholes on our rural county roads that often had ice patches. This information was critical in our announcement of a late start today.
As I stated above, I take this decision very seriously - our ultimate decision comes down to can we guarantee safety in getting to school.
We felt strongly on Monday that we could guarantee our students safety in getting to school - the temperature had just started falling to the freezing level early in the Monday morning, and we were seeing ice, but it was not seriously impacting roads. We knew the biggest area of concern on that morning was the bridges over I-35 and we knew that TXDOT was taking care of them. Tuesday was different because of the prolonged period of time we were below freezing. Our rural areas concerned us since our drivers could not see the icy patches early in the morning when we start rolling buses about 5:45.
I am blessed to have a great staff that cares about our students. One of the often overlooked parts of this staff is our BUS DRIVERS. They truly care about our students and are often the first face they see when coming to school. They take their jobs very seriously and are truly concerned with the well being of all students.
I hope this helps you better understand the process we go through in these winter conditions.