Winter Weather Protocol

Minnesota weather is hard to predict, and Princeton Schools considers many variables to help make the decision to cancel or delay school, or to implement an e-learning day. We consult with area school districts, our bus company manager, and our local counties, and we monitor various weather statements, watches and warnings.

We consider several factors when making the decision to close or delay school:

Can students get to and from school safely?
Is there strong wind, excessive snowfall, extreme cold, or heavy fog?
- Generally, extreme cold is defined as sustained air temperatures far below zero or sustained wind chills of 40 degrees or more below zero.
How would student learning be affected by a delay or cancellation?

Ultimately the decision to send your child to school is yours as a parent. If we hold school and you are uncomfortable sending your child to school due to weather conditions, please contact your school and we will count the absence as excused.

Weather Procedures

In any weather emergency, the main objective is to provide protection and a safe environment for students. Once a decision has been reached, radio stations and news services will be contacted on behalf of the district, and the district will send out a Skylert message to families. Additionally, we may exercise the option of implementing an e-learning day, which will be communicated in the Skylert message to families.

School Closure / Delays Procedure

Whenever possible the superintendent will announce school closings or late starts as early as the night before severe weather, if credible information is available.
When an emergency closing or a late start is required, every effort will be made to reach a decision by 5:30 a.m.
We will make the announcement via Skylert, our district website, local news outlets, and our social media accounts.
The district will announce if a flex-learning day will take place. In these instances, teachers will reach out to students with further instructions.

Early Release Procedures

In the event of an early dismissal or a school closing, all student activities and practices, including Community Education classes, facility permits, Early Childhood classes, and Adult Basic Education class will be canceled.

Families will be notified of early dismissals as soon as the decision is made.

Students who normally ride the bus home from school will be transported home unless a parent/guardian advises otherwise.
Tiger Club will close two hours after buses depart from the schools. Please make arrangements to pick up your student(s) within this time.

Skylert Notification System

We utilize our phone, email and text alert system called Skylert to enhance communication during weather events that impact our schools. Now is a great time to review your contact information in Skyward Family Access! You should review/update your contact information in Skyward Family Access at isd477.org/skyward and navigate to the Skylert tab to view your notification settings. Additionally, we strongly recommend that you add superintendent@isd477.org and transportation@isd477.org to your email address book to ensure alert messages go to your inbox and not spam.

Prepare for Winter

Announcements Methods

Station	AM / TV	Station	FM
WJON Radio	1240	BIGQ Radio	95.9
KXSS Radio	1390	WWJO Radio	98.1
KNSI Radio	1450	KMXK Radio	94.9
KASM Radio	1150	KKSR Radio	96.7
WCCO Radio	830	KLZZ Radio	103.7
KBECK Radio	1800	KCLD Radio	104.7
WCCO TV	Channel 4	KZPK Radio	98.9
KSTP TV	Channel 5	KCML Radio	99.9
KMSP TV	Channel 9	KLCI Radio	91.5
KARE 11 - TV	Channel 11

In addition to these radio and television outlets, weather alerts are announced on the Union-Times website at www.unionandtimes.com, on the district website at www.isd477.org, and the community digital sign by Coborn's. Additionally, our district Facebook and Twitter accounts will report weather announcements. The coordination of communications during weather emergencies takes the effort of many staff members and therefore we will not respond to weather-related inquiries through social media messaging.

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