Weather Emergency Policy

Weather Emergency Closing Process
The process to determine whether or not our schools will close down due to severe weather is as follows:

The superintendents of the six school districts in Northfield Township work together to make a joint decision. These districts include 27, 28, 30, 31, 34 and 225. We begin monitoring the weather the evening before the day in question. If a decision is not made that evening, we resume monitoring the weather at 3:00 AM. Bottom line, we ask ourselves if any children, parents or staff members are being put in danger by keeping the schools open.

Specific information gathered to make the final decision includes, but may not be limited to the following:

Is the bus company able to run all of the regularly scheduled routes without significant delays?
Are driving conditions safe for busses and automobiles (streets cleared, good visibility, etc.)?
Are the buildings heated with no anticipated furnace malfunctions?
Is the temperature, including the wind chill, safe for people to be outside for short periods of time as they are going/from school? (according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service)

Please be assured that if the schools remain open and you decide that it is not in your child's best interest to leave your home due to weather conditions, you can call the school to inform us that he/she will be absent. Our teachers will work with your child to make up the work missed.

Five emergency days are built into the school calendar to account for any days the schools need to be closed. At this point in time, the last day of the 2009-10 school year is Friday, June 4, 2010. We will keep you apprized if that date changes.

Thank you for your cooperation and support during these cold winter months. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the building principals or superintendent of schools.

Closing Notification Information

District 31’s policy is to cancel classes only in the event of extreme weather conditions. Any cancellation decision would generally be made in partnership with other local township school superintendents. In the event of an extreme weather emergency, District 31 families will be notified of school closings in the following ways:

Connect-Ed Phone Message: An automated phone message with school closing notification will be sent to the home numbers of all students. If your phone number has changed from the number you listed on your Declaration of Residency form, please notify Edna Miller, District 31’s registration clerk, at 847-313-4416 to ensure that you will receive Connect-Ed notification. On extreme weather days, please keep your phone line open so that a phone message will be able to get through to your number. Calls will be made within a reasonable amount of time prior to the beginning of the school day.

District Website (www.district31.net): If schools are closed, a message will be posted on our home page. Our home page also features a link to the Emergency Closing Center to verify school closing information. (The link is located in the left column of the home page.)

Emergency Closing Center information: You can check this website directly at http://www.emergencyclosings.com/ecc/

Radio/Television Announcements: The District notifies the local media including WBBM, WGN, WIND, WMAQ and WLS radio stations, as well as local TV-news stations, in the event of a school closing.

Updated January 2010