D113A Schools to Remain Closed Thursday

Due to continued inclement weather, all District 113A schools will be closed tomorrow, Thursday, January 8, 2015. All after-school and evening student activities are canceled for Thursday.

“As previously stated, making the decision to close district schools is never easy and many variables come into play. We make every effort to remain open, but the safety of our students and staff remains at the forefront of our decision-making processes,” Superintendent Dr. Courtney Orzel wrote in an email. “As a result, although the wind chill warning was downgraded to an advisory level, the temperatures are still predicted to be well-below zero, and might even be colder in the morning than they were today. We have young children in our district who could potentially be standing at bus stops and walking to school, creating an unsafe situation for students. We believe that we need to err on the side of caution given these extreme weather conditions and remain consistent with our practice today.”

At this time, the District plans on reopening on Friday, January 9.

“ We know that it will still be cold outside, so please remember to dress your children in warm clothing as they come to school on Friday,” according to the email. “Please remember that it is always a parent’s decision as to whether or not to send a child to school if they have weather-related concerns when schools are open.”

The District plans to tack on additional days at the end of the year “to utilize the built-in emergency days in our school calendar.”

“Moving forward, we will be analyzing our response to extreme weather related circumstances in the event that we continue to face such conditions,” Orzel wrote. “We will be also surveying parents to gain their input into a late start option when appropriate for weather-related concerns and will also be working with the Board of Education to ask for a waiver that would allow the option to utilize holidays (such as MLK Day or Presidents’ Day) as make-up days for weather-related closings instead of using days at the end of the school year.

“It is still possible that the District would choose to use the emergency days at the end of the school year, but it would allow flexibility as well.”