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Northwest School District Inclement Weather Procedures

When the first snowflakes fall or inclement weather is predicted, the Northwest School District will begin the process of determining whether or not to call off school. Although some weather conditions make the decision to cancel school rather easy, more often than not weather systems are unpredictable and the decision to call off school becomes extremely challenging.

School administrators will begin the process of evaluating weather conditions by monitoring a number of weather forecasts and consulting with representatives from First Student, the District's transportation provider, MoDOT, the Missouri Highway Patrol and representatives of the District's facilities department. Representatives from the school district will also drive local roads in the early hours of the morning to evaluate and determine driving conditions.

Once a decision to cancel school is made, the District will contact the following TV stations: Channel 2, Channel 4, and Channel 5. The District will also contact the following radio stations: KMOX (1120 AM), KTJJ (98.5 FM), and KJFF (1400 AM). Parents are asked to listen to the media to find out if school has been cancelled. Additionally, the District will post the cancellation information on the District website as soon as possible after the decision.

The District will also utilize a system called SchoolReach. SchoolReach allows parent/guardian contact phone numbers to be called automatically by a voice messaging system. Within minutes of initiating the system, SchoolReach automatically sends a recorded message to every number in its calling system. When school is cancelled, only the home contact number is called. When school is dismissed early, all contact numbers are called.

Parents/guardians should watch or listen to the local media rather than contacting the schools or the District office to allow the District to quickly and effectively utilize the media to provide cancellation information. If the District is going to dismiss early once students are in school, the decision will usually be made before 1 pm.