Ashland Schools Snow Day Policy
March 04, 2013
USD 220 was closed three days over the past couple of weeks due to heavy snowfall and poor conditions.
School administrators attempt to make decisions about school closings before 6:00 a.m. so that bus drivers and bus riders can be notified before starting their routes.
After a decision has been made to cancel school, families are notified by several methods. The primary method of notification is the Alert Now system. This is a subscription-based service that USD 220 uses. When students are enrolled in Ashland schools, the parents select the methods by which they would like to be notified, including voice notification, text or email.
When a change to the regular schedule is made, such as a weather cancelation, the Alert Now system is used to notify all families in a matter of seconds.
Notices are also put on TV stations KAKE, KWCH, and KSNW as well as radio stations, KJIL, KHYM, K-101, KZRD, KOLS, and KGNO.
The school’s Face Book and Twitter accounts are also used to make notifications as well as Jay-TV and the school’s web page. Finally, the school’s information hotline is also updated to include weather cancelations.
Superintendent Bill Day said, “There is a common misconception that there are “snow days” built in to the schedule, but this is not true. Each school building is required to be in session a certain number of hours per year, and we do have a few extra hours scheduled. However, typically, the policy is to make up missed days on the next available Friday.
After the snow storms, USD 220 officials determined that one day of the three missed will be made up. The make-up day is scheduled for Friday, March 22.
Make-up time will not affect Spring Break which is scheduled for March 8-17.
