With storm season imminent us and the memories of last winter’s onslaught of snow still fresh in everyone’s mind, the Campbell River School District (SD72) is reminding the public that while they do their best to keep schools open on every regular instructional day, there are situations where they simply can’t do it.
In a release from the district this week about emergency, unscheduled and weather closures, the district says that the decision to close schools “is made by the superintendent in consideration for the safety of our students.
“During an emergency, extreme weather, power outage or similar incident, the school district will strive to communicate quickly and effectively with parents, students, staff and the community.
“In some cases,” the release continues, “we must wait to receive information from official sources, including the RCMP and other authoritative organizations, to ensure that we communicate the most accurate and up-to-date information. We will communicate status updates based on the confirmed information that we have at the time.”
The district says decisions about school closures due to extreme weather – such as a significant snowfall or windstorm – will almost always be made by the superintendent in the early morning. This information will be communicated as soon as possible, generally before 7:00 a.m.
“Even if schools are open, the Campbell River School District, and our schools, respect and support parents if they feel that it is unsafe to send their child to school or wish to pick-up their child early due to potentially unsafe weather conditions,” the release says, but reminds parents to report their child’s absence through their school’s attendance line should you choose to keep your child home.
Last winter, the school saw district-wide closures for three days due to snow (Feb. 7, 9 and 10) as well as two days of closures at Sayward School due to road flooding making the highway impassable (Nov. 8 and 9) and one day when École Phoenix Middle School was closed due to a power outage (March 2).
Carihi Secondary and Cedar Elementary were also placed on lockdown by the RCMP for one day (Feb. 20) due to an incident involving a replica gun.
The district says you can get updates on school closures most immediately by following their social media channels on Facebook (Campbell River School District – SD72) or Twitter (@CRSD72). The Mirror will also update the community on its Facebook page.
All closures will also be posted right at the top of the homepage of the SD72 website as soon as they are announced.
If no closure announcement is made, parents should assume their child’s school is open.
“In most instances,” the district release states, “no announcement will be made that schools are open; only cancellations, closures or delayed school openings will be announced.”