I just wanted to share how the District approaches dealing with inclement weather. Many different components are looked at to make the best decision possible. I know not everyone will agree no matter what decision is made. I have an excellent administration team who give me their input. Ultimately, the decision is mine, and I will try to make the best-informed decision possible.  

The District's primary concern is always for the safety of our students and staff. Therefore, the final decision about coming to school or staying in school during inclement weather is up to the parents, guardians or individual staff members. Staff members can always use accumulated personal leave for any reason.

Assessment of the current weather, the weather forecast, and road conditions all factor into our decision to delay opening or to cancel school. I have developed a good relationship with the other superintendents in our valley. We all have our transportation directors go out on the roads early in the morning to assess before we make a final decision. We also get feedback from those individuals who work for the county maintaining roads.  It is clear to me, having lived my life in Montana, the weather can be different five miles away or change in five minutes.  

There are four choices we have:
A. Delay buses for two hours
B. Delay school and buses for two hours
C. Release school early
D. Cancel school

Once a decision has been made, we use our SMS messaging system, which sends a text, an e-mail, and calls a landline and/or cell phone. This depends on what information you have given us, which was included on your enrollment form at the beginning of the school year and has been entered into the Infinite Campus system. These work great as long as we have current working numbers or e-mails of our parents or guardians. If you are not sure what contact information is on file, email your building secretary.

We then call the radio and television stations, which have been great at getting information out as soon as we release our statements. The message will also be posted on the District’s website: www.ronank12.edu.

Decisions about opening, delaying, or canceling school are extremely important and never made lightly. I understand that many of our families depend on the school being open, as some parents cannot miss work when school is closed. We also recognize that, for some students, school is the safest environment for them if guardians can not be home.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Mark