Because inclement weather is a real possibility each year, the school calendar is created with an additional five days of instruction in the event school must be cancelled. This means if we were to have a year when we missed no days, we would have five extra days of instructional time compared to what is required by the Kentucky Department of Education - and compared to the majority of other districts in the Commonwealth.  As of February 17th, we have missed eight days of school for the 2009-10 school year. This means that we must make up three days at the end of the year moving the last day of school to June 3, 2010.

Our custodial and transportation staffs have been truly outstanding!  They will continue to do what they have done throughout this winter -to work diligently to prepare for the return of students and staff after each weather event. The school custodial staffs have spent hours clearing school entrance ways to make every access as safe as possible for walking and parking. Our transportation staff, led by Assistant Superintendent Gerald Turner, work hard to prepare our parking lots. Also, Mr. Turner drives the roads in the southern end of the district and has drivers checking the roads throughout the rest of the county. We know the most hazardous spots to check first and are in contact with the Kenton County Department of Transportation. We also speak with neighboring district administrators in Walton, Boone County, and Campbell County because they also are scouting the roads and border many of the same areas. In addition to our 134 buses transporting students over 11,000 miles of road each day, we have several hundred teenage drivers and over 1,700 employees driving and parking in our lots.

I know we are all hoping that the bad weather is behind us and school will resume without any more cancellations. As I have explained in the past, the decision to cancel school is only made with the safety of our students and staff in mind. At the very latest, the decision to cancel or delay needs to be made between 5:00-6:00 AM because we have drivers beginning their routes by 6:00 AM. Our preference is to make the call to remain open or cancel at that time; however, sometimes a one or two hour delay is called to see if conditions improve or if salt trucks can make it to areas of concern. If the conditions get worse, I make the call to cancel.  

Thanks to the staff, students and parents for your patience through this time of bad weather. I will continue to work hard to make all decisions based on what is best for all of our students. If you have questions, ideas or concerns, as always please feel free to contact Gerald Turner or me.

Let's hope for sunny days ahead!

Tim Hanner

Superintendent