This week’s frigid temperatures led most Kentucky districts to call off classes for one or two days because of safety and transportation concerns. But as one district official put it, there is no standard of how cold is too cold to go to school. What can affirm a local decision is how district leaders elsewhere in the state reacted to the weather – be it cold, ice or snow.
KSBA has established a new resource to help district leaders know of the actions being taken in other parts of the state. A page on our website – http://www.ksba.org/protected/ArticleView.aspx?iid=6G03IY0&dasi=3UBI – provides links to almost 20 news media school closing pages covering the entire state. For example, on Sunday, Jan. 5, KSBA staff were able to use these links to track school closing notifications as they grew from fewer than a dozen around 2 p.m. to more than 150 at 11 p.m.
Initial reaction by several superintendents has been highly positive. And use of the online resource during its launch day was huge: The page was checked out just under 1,000 times in the first 24 hours of the service.
KSBA will maintain and expand the media notice links page throughout this winter season. If you know of an additional regional school closing resource online, please let us know at [email protected]. All such sites need to be free and open for viewing by all, and not behind a restricted pay wall.