BH-BL’s School Delay and Closing Procedures Reminder
New procedures help district make more accurate school closing decisions
Now that the winter weather has arrived, we’d like to remind parents and students of BH-BL’s school delay and closing procedures.
When determining whether to delay or close school, the decision-making process begins at 4:30 a.m. and includes assessing weather conditions and forecasts and communicating with our four towns to find out if the roads (main and back) will be cleared and safe for travel. Remember, travel conditions can vary widely across our 50-square-mile district. Additionally, we work with BH-BL Buildings & Grounds staff to determine if school parking lots and driveways can be cleared for buses and cars.
While it is very important to us to open school every day, our first priority, of course, is student safety. There are times when it is too unpredictable to make a full closing decision in the early morning hours. Road conditions can change rapidly as temperatures change and plows clear and salt or sand roadways. In these situations the district may institute a 2-hour delay immediately, but indicate that a further decision on closing school will be made by 7 a.m.
By 5:30 a.m. we will let residents know if school is
- running on a 2-hour delay (final);
- running on a 2-hour delay (decision on closing by 7 a.m.); or
- school is closed.
Below are the variety of different ways BH-BL notifies residents of delays and closures.
- School News Notifier (SNN). You can sign up for School New Notifier email and text message athttps://snn.neric.org/bhbl.
- District website, www.bhbl.org.
- Local media (television and radio stations, and newspaper websites).
- BH-BL’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.
It is best to rely on more than one source of information when it comes to weather-related announcements. This is particularly true in situations that involve power outages, which can affect the district’s ability to send electronic notifications.
Additionally, if school is delayed the Glenville Y-Care morning program also has a delayed start and will not open until 8:30 a.m. BH-BL students who are transported to school on buses from a different school district (using shared transportation) should follow that school’s delay/closing decision.
You are encouraged to visit our Emergency Closings & Delays webpage to learn more. If you still have questions after reviewing the webpage, please contact the Superintendent’s Office at 399-9141, ext. 85002.