How Does the School District Call a 2-Hour Delay for Weather?

This is a message from El Tejon Unified School District Superintendent Sara Haflich to inform parents  of Frazier Park Elementary, El Tejon Middle School and Frazier Mountain High School how “two-hour delays” and “snow days” are decided. Have a look.

WEATHER IS UPON US!   HERE ARE SOME IMPORTANT WEATHER FACTS TO KEEP IN MIND………

Weather is very unpredictable, but ETUSD always makes decisions to keep all students safe with the information we have.

  • ETUSD’s Manager of Transportation (MOT) leaves early in the morning to drive the main roads all the way down into Pine Mountain Club (PMC) to check for snow and ice. When there is substantial ice on the roads, especially into PMC due to the type of road, we will always call a 2-hour delay to be safe. (We will make this decision before the buses go out at 6 a.m.)
  • If the snow/ice is still too heavy to feel confident sending the buses out, school will be cancelled for that day…. “Snow Day!!!”

(This decision will be made by 8:15 a.m.)

  • Since weather is so unpredictable it makes decisions sometimes very difficult, based on the forecast, but we do the very best we can.

(For example: We cancel school based on the forecast and the weather does not come in as hard as predicted making it appear we cancelled school for no reason, or we do not cancel school and weather comes in harder than predicted.)

Weather causing an early release:

  • Please remember that weather sometimes puts us in the same situation but later in the day. The weather is perfectly fine in the morning, but a storm comes in heavy in the afternoon. In this situation instead of a 2-hour morning delay we must send the students home early to ensure safety.
  • Please have a plan in place for this situation. If this were to happen a Robocall/text/email will be sent out just like we do for 2-hour delays.

Each community on the mountain is unique:

  • Each area of the mountain poses different issues for each family. Some live on a dirt road at the top of the mountain, some on flat land out in Lockwood Valley. We make decisions based on the conditions of the roads that the buses travel, so please remember that it is always your decision to send your child to school based on your individual circumstance.

If you ever have any questions as to why a specific decision is made feel free to contact Sara Haflich at the district office: 661-248-6247

ETUSD will ALWAYS make decisions on the safe side rather than take chances!

This is part of the December 10, 2021 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

Have an opinion on this matter? We'd like to hear from you.