School Closings & Alerts

School District 197 makes every possible effort to keep schools open, in most weather conditions, if bus travel is safe. Unless we announce otherwise, assume school is in session.Parents make the final decision about whether or not to send their children to school if they believe weather conditions present a safety issue. No school credit is lost and the absence is excused if a parent decides to keep a child home because of the weather.

For any snowy or cold conditions, please be sure children are dressed for the weather and particularly if they are traveling by bus or walking to school. With winter weather, please also allow for the occasional delay with bus pick-up and delivery times.

We make decisions to close school looking at a number of factors. Buses must be able to start and run dependably. Local road conditions must be safe and passable. Windchills must be safe, especially during bus pick up and drop off times. When there are sustained wind chills of 40 to 45 degrees below zero during critical travel times, conditions are not safe for students. Like neighboring districts, the National Weather Service is our source for weather information.

Due to the often unpredictable winter weather in Minnesota, in most cases we wait until the morning of each school day before notifying families. However, there may be rare instances when we make a decision the night before

How are decisions made for when schools remain open or close?

Schools are Open

On cold or snowy days when weather conditions may not be ideal but bus routes are safe, the district will keep schools open. We realize that weather or traffic conditions could cause some buses to run late or present challenges for some walkers if sidewalks still need to be shoveled.

On days such as this, it is always the parents' decision whether or not to send their children to school if they believe there is a safety issue regarding weather conditions.

No school credit is lost, and it is an excused absence if a parent decides to keep their child home because of extreme cold or inclement weather.

If you do not receive a phone call, text or email from the school district, find a message on our website, or see a posting on local media channels, school is in session.

Schools are Closed

The school district would close school if it is unsafe for students to arrive at school or if buses would have difficulty traveling their routes.

The amount of snow, temperature, wind chill, passable roads, and at times the possibility of buses not starting are among the many factors that are considered.

If schools are closed, we alert our families by phone, text, and/or email using the information and preferences we have on file for emergency communications; publish an alert on our website; and post information on local media channels.

What are all the potential scenarios with winter weather closings?

How will I know if school is closed, released early, there is a delayed start, or a flexible learning day?

An alert notification will be sent to you by phone, text, and e-mail based upon information on file with the school district and any preferences you have selected for notification in cases of emergency.
An easy-to-find Alert Message will be posted on the top of each page on district and school websites: District197.org
We will post a message on our Facebook page.
We will tweet a message on our district Twitter account.
We will share information via school closing messages on WCCO Radio, WCCO-Channel 4, KARE-11, KMSP Fox 9, and KSTP-5.

Keep your contact information updated

When school is closed, released early, has a delayed start, or a flexible learning day is called, our automated e-mail, phone, and text alert system is our most effective means of notifying parents and families in the shortest amount of time. In these cases, it is important that we have the most up-to-date parent/guardian contact information (home phone, cell phone, e-mail addresses).

To update your contact information, including phone numbers or email addresses, please login to Parent Portal.

If you need assistance with this process, if you need login information, or if you need to set up your Campus Portal account, please contact the Technology Help Desk at 651-403-8400.

What are the procedures for when there is a two-hour delayed start?

If the start of school is delayed for two hours, the following would usually occur:

All schools will start exactly two hours later than usual
Buses will run two hours later than usual
School-Age Care, Preschool, Early Childhood Family Education, and Early Childhood Special Education will be open at their regular starting times. It would be helpful to call your School-Age Care site before bringing children to be certain staff have arrived.
Continue to monitor the district website for updates and changes
All district staff should report as close as possible to their usual starting times

What is a flexible learning day and what are the procedures when one is called?

Flexible learning days are an opportunity for students to continue learning at home when school buildings are closed due to severe winter weather. When a flexible learning day is called, students are not expected to physically come to school but are expected to participate in instruction using Canvas or Seesaw.

All schools in Minnesota have a required amount of active, teacher-facilitated learning time for students. In the event that we have a school cancellation due to inclement weather, School District 197 can decide to call up to three flexible learning days during a calendar year.

We communicate flexible learning days following our regular notification process.

How are decisions made related to cold?

When it comes to closing school because of cold weather, it is all about safety. We know the cold begins to be considered dangerous when wind chills approach 40 degrees below zero and air temperature 20 degrees below zero. For this reason, Spring Lake Park, and other metro area school districts, use projected 6 a.m. temperatures to consider closing school. When making these decisions, we need to ensure that buses can run reliably in the cold temperatures.

Do other districts influence our decision to close, dismiss early, delay start or have a flexible learning day?

Sometimes. Snowfall-related cancellations can affect metro areas very differently whereas cold weather impacts each of the metro districts in a similar way. Although each school district makes its own decision, communication and consultation among school districts is very common and necessary. Because we share services with neighboring districts, it's always important for bordering districts to talk to each other before making their decisions.

Our goal is always to have school in session.

We never want to lose a day of valuable learning, and we have a history of remaining open. The district makes every possible effort to keep schools open, in most weather conditions, if buses can run reliably and the wait at the bus stop and the walk to school are safe.

Throughout the school year, unless we announce otherwise, assume that school will be in session. When schools are open we know that students are in safe and warm places.