When snow is forecasted or falling, school districts regionwide combine lookout and legwork to help ensure communities avoid unsafe travels as the districts decide whether to postpone or cancel school.

In Butler County, for instance, school district Director of Transportation, Safety, and Maintenance Ryan Emmick and his mechanics at the bus garage check roads known to be problematic due to ice or snow to ensure they’re not hazardous for travel, Emmick said.

The Butler County Road Department communicates road conditions; first responders, including law enforcement, provide insights; neighboring districts, too, remain in contact about conditions and impacts to the west; and then, taking these insights, Butler County Schools Superintendent Robert Tuck communicates with the BCS Board of Education to decide — as early as possible — whether to cancel school, Emmick said.

“When we do cancel, we take into account the need for parents and care givers to find someone to watch their child, so we attempt to make the decision as early as possible,” Emmick said.

Other school systems, too, shared their cancellation processes for wintertime. They have far more in common than not — as each district centers collaboration typically involving forecasts, scouts and local partnerships.

Warren County Public Schools

Warren County Public Schools communicates with local meteorologists and the National Weather Service as it utilizes a system of management to evaluate roadways, according to WCPS administrators.

The director of transportation oversees four area managers of spotters such as bus drivers, technicians and mechanics during potential inclement weather, WCPS Assistant Superintendent Kyle Cassady said.

Between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m., they evaluate roads known to be most hazardous during potential inclement weather, particularly side roads, to determine whether they’d be a danger for a bus driver or a young teenage driver, he added.

“Any type of hazard that we’re going to encounter when it comes to weather — whether it be in the wintertime or potential flooding, or any other source that would contribute to a hazardous condition — we’re going to take that in consideration and try to make the best decision going forward to make sure that safety remains our top priority,” Cassady said.

He, Superintendent Rob Clayton, Director of Transportation Chip Jenkins and Assistant Superintendent Sarah Johnson will usually collaborate on a call by 5 a.m. to determine whether a school day should proceed, be canceled or be delayed, Cassady said.

The district communicates such delays or cancellations with community members through email and text via the platform Infinite Campus as well as local news and social media. WCPS also uses the program TalkingPoints to communicate non-English alerts to families in their native languages, Cassady added.

WCPS has 10 non-traditional instruction (NTI) days it can use for health and safety this school year. When WCPS uses an NTI day for inclement weather, it expects all students to participate in virtual learning; none has been used this school year.

Bowling Green Independent School District

The Bowling Green Independent School District watches weather forecasts across local and national outlets during winter months. It communicates with the local transportation department and Bowling Green Police Department. And multiple people — including BGISD Superintendent Gary Fields, the transportation director, and the maintenance director — check neighborhood streets where buses travel, BGISD Director of Communications Leslie McCoy stated.

“We understand the difficulties it causes families when schools are delayed opening or closed, so we make every effort to be in school on schedule, but if necessary, make a decision before 5:45 a.m., prior to buses running,” she stated.

In an area of approximately 7 square miles, BGISD doesn’t share the same challenges of winter travel that larger districts experience, McCoy stated. Moreover, many roadways districtwide are designated by Kentucky as priority emergency routes, routinely pre-treated and cleared first following snow or ice, she added.

Fields ultimately decides whether to delay or cancel school, she said.

A delay postpones the school day by one or two hours, McCoy added; this enables roadways to become more clear via factors such as warming temperatures.

If school closes, BGISD will usually use an NTI day, where teachers communicate with their students and families about the day’s assignments via prepared packets or online learning, McCoy said. Under this circumstance, completing these assignments fulfills a student’s attendance requirement, she added.

Simpson County Schools

Simpson County Schools Superintendent Tim Schlosser, the transportation director, director of pupil personnel and maintenance director are the main four people to travel roads and check for snow and ice to determine if people can travel safely, Schlosser stated. Weather forecast must also be considered, he added.

They’ll communicate how the area they’re driving looks; if they can decide whether to cancel school the night before, they’ll try to do that; if not, they’ll make the decision by 5:30 a.m., Schlosser stated. It has 10 NTI days.

Ultimately, as superintendent, he’ll make the call.

Barren County schools

At Barren County Schools, roads are checked by bus drivers and district administrators, including the superintendent, associate superintendent, director of transportation and assistant director of transportation — who are assigned areas that cover the county’s regions, according to District Communications Officer Heather Gardner.

They’ll also retain communication with the Barren County Sheriff’s Office, she added.

“If road conditions are such that buses cannot travel safely, we cancel in-person learning, and in most cases, we implement (an NTI) day,” Gardner stated.

The district has 10 NTI days. It closed school Sept. 27 due to a severe weather threat, but this wasn’t an NTI day and will be made up May 20, she added.