Open or close?

For many children, the school closures caused by snow earlier this week were cause for celebration.

The weather was less fun for Shoreline School District work crews slipping around on icy roads at 3 a.m. to test conditions. That’s just one of many steps district staff take to decide on, then declare, a snow day.

“What happens first is transportation director Devin Denney will begin driving around the district beginning at about 3 a.m., checking the street to see what conditions are like,” said Craig Degginger, Public Information Officer.

Denney also checks with nearby school districts to find out what they plan to do. Then he reports to district administration on the situation.

Sue Walker, superintendent, decides whether to close school or opt for an hour-and-a-half late start. She aims to do this by about 5 a.m.

“(The decision) is based on safety,” Degginger said.

Parents don’t get called directly on snow closures, but can check the district Web site or Channel 26, the public access channel in Shoreline. The district also alerts local television and radio stations. Finally, parents can call 206-367-6111 or 206-361-4400 to get updates.

If school was closed in the middle of the day, however, schools would call parents directly.

The early dismissal option is used with great care only when all other options have been explored, according to the district’s Web site. If an extreme emergency requires students to remain at school beyond the school day, an emergency team comprised of the principal and designated staff members will stay with students until previously approved people arrive to pick them up. Emergency supplies are available at all sites.

On snow days, the district has these options:

• Close all schools for the day. All meetings, field trips, after-school and other activities are also canceled.

• Open one-and-a-half hours late, with busses operating on regular routes.

• Open one-and-a-half hours late, with buses operating on snow routes. When snow and ice are present, some roads and bus stop locations can’t be used safely. Snow routes have been designed to avoid areas where hazardous road conditions exist.

Students are given a copy of the district’s snow routes by the school or driver. When snow routes are in effect, they will be used on both the morning and afternoon routes even if roads have cleared.

For more details, see www.shorelineschools.org/schools/emergency/default.php.

As for snow make-up days, students will go to school for half days on March 16 and May 14 to make up for Tuesday and Wednesday’s closures. Those were previously non student work days.

If school were closed on Thursday, the make up day would be June 11. As of Wednesday, the Enterprise deadline, it was unsure if school would be closed Thursday. Any further closures would be tacked on to the end of the school year, which currently ends June 22.