Inclement Weather Information - Extreme Cold Weather
The safety and well-being of students and staff is our top priority and the decision to close, delay or release school is a difficult decision. Before deciding to modify the school day due to extreme weather conditions, the Superintendent consults with a variety of local and county authorities. Our commitment is to keep students, families, and staff safe, as well as keep the community informed of weather-related school closings, delays and cancellations.
If there is a question on whether school will be delayed or cancelled school closure information will be posted by 6 a.m. on Riverside Community School District Website at riversideschools.org, District Facebook Page, District Twitter Account, Superintendent Facebook Page and Superintendent Twitter Account. Parents will also receive a text, e-mail, phone call from our automated Student Information System (JMC). It is important that parent contact information is updated on a regular basis to make sure you receive this notification. The media will also air the announcement--TV Stations: KETV – Channel 7, and WOWT — Channel 6. These are secondary notifications, because we all know technology can fail and we want to ensure our community and families are informed.
Please note that we continually monitor the forecast from the National Weather Service (NWS) (https://www.weather.gov/) to make the best decision for students, staff, and families in a timely manner. The District utilizes information from the NWS for Omaha, Pottawattamie County Emergency Management and the NWS National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) wind chill chart is utilized in the District's decision-making process for extreme cold weather decisions. The NOAA wind chill chart can be found below.
As we look at this week, the threat of severe weather and bitter cold temperatures are being forecasted by the NWS for the rest of this week and through the weekend. With that in mind, we wanted to be proactive in sharing our typical procedures for delaying or cancelling school in the event of extreme cold weather.
For extreme cold weather situations:
· School could be delayed if the forecasted wind chill from the NWS at 7:00 am is at or below -25°F and temperature is forecast to improve by 9:30 am.
· School will be cancelled if the forecast is a Wind Chill Warning and shows potential frostbite times in 10 minutes or less according to the "Windchill Chart" .
Unless otherwise noted, all activities are cancelled when school is cancelled or dismissed early.
If you have any questions please let me know--Timothy Mitchell, Superintendent, Riverside Community School District.