Spartan families & staff,
Once again, we do not anticipate significant improvement relative to temperature and road conditions moving into Wednesday, with the main concern being the district's ability to transport students safely, particularly in many of our neighborhoods and along our many miles of untreated, rural roads. Additionally, there has been no improvement with school parking lots and sidewalks, which remain slick and difficult to negotiate. Therefore, BPS will remain closed on Wednesday, 2/1.
With the potential for more winter weather Wednesday evening, we will monitor conditions closely and of course make a decision as soon as possible relative to the status of school for Thursday. With warmer temperatures tomorrow, we will have maintenance crews at sites to clear and treat sidewalks with the hope of reopening schools Thursday morning.
We recognize this brings up questions about the potential impact on our school calendar and whether or not days will need to be made up. The district will ensure we do all we can to keep our currently scheduled last day of school intact.
Based on the 2022-23 BPS Academic Calendar, the district has five days of “built in” time to allow for any school closures. Given that the school closures this week have already resulted in the use of three of those five “built in” days, our school sites will be prepared moving forward to implement distance learning for any future school closures after this week. We have enjoyed a generally mild winter and would hope to make it through the next six weeks without any additional closures.
Should a school closure be necessary, the district will proactively remind secondary students and teachers to bring their Chromebooks home. Our elementary and intermediate sites will distribute Chromebooks to students who have a request on file. Please understand that Chromebook distribution in this scenario does not necessarily indicate a school closure, we simply will need to be prepared in order to keep our school calendar intact.
We appreciate your understanding and hope you’ve enjoyed a safe and warm few days at home with family. We look forward to seeing you back at school soon!
Thank you,
Rob Miller