District 200 Visitor's Page-Emergency Closings

The decision to close school because of snow, extreme cold, or other emergency will be made as close to 6 a.m. as possible. Dr. Richard Drury, Superintendent, will record a telephone message to be delivered to the households of all District 200 families and staff announcing the closing by 6 a.m. For you to receive this message, your current phone number must be on file with your child's school. Families may also check school and District answering machines and the District's home page (www.cusd200.org) for closing information. Local radio and TV stations will also be informed and announcements should be made over the following radio and television stations:

WGN Radio 720	WBBM News Radio 78
CBS Channel 2	NBC Channel 5
ABC Channel 7	WGN Channel 9
Fox Channel 32	CLTV News Channel 48

Closing information is also available by:
Online: www.EmergencyClosings.com
E-mail: Sign up for personalized e-mail notification at www.EmergencyClosings.com
Facility Search: You will need to enter " Dist 200" or your child's school name along with the city that the school is located in at www.EmergencyClosings.com to search. You may also search for the school's phone number.

Radio and TV stations are likely to report closings as Community Unit School District 200 or CUSD 200 and not list individual schools. Please listen to these announcements carefully as there are several District 200 school systems in the metropolitan area.

If it is necessary to close school once classes begin, students will be dismissed based on information parents provide at registration. While the school will make every attempt to reach parents, it is not always possible. In those cases, the emergency information provided by parents at registration will be used. Please be certain that the school office has current names and phone numbers of your family's emergency contacts. It is suggested that you discuss these emergency arrangements with your child.

A Message to Parents on School Closings from Superintendent Richard W. Drury
Winter in the Chicago area can be very challenging. Snow storms and sub-zero temperatures are a common occurrence. When severe weather occurs, we must make the decision to open or close our schools. I can assure you that this decision is made cautiously and with much thought. Our ultimate concern is the safety of our students and the best interests of everyone in our school community.

Whenever possible, we will make the decision to keep our schools open. When we are able to stay open, we give all parents the option of sending their children to school or keeping them home. When we close the schools, we remove this option. Therefore, when the weather is questionable in your mind, and the decision has been made to keep our schools open, please make the choice that is best for you and your children. You always have the right to keep your children home, and all student absences reported by a parent on such days will be treated as excused.

A decision to close our schools for the day must be made by 6:00 a.m. If the decision is made after that, we run the risk of missing parents who have left for work, staff who have left for their schools and high school students preparing to leave for school. When making the decision to close or remain open, our main consideration is whether all students and staff can safely make it to school. We base our decision on the following information:

•	The bus company believes that they can run all of their bus routes in a timely manner and deliver our students safely to school.
•	The District 200 facilities' department is confident that they can keep our driveways, walkways, doorways and parking lots cleared sufficiently for pedestrians, cars, and emergency vehicles.
•	The municipal street departments servicing District 200 can maintain all of the streets in an acceptable manner.
•	The weather forecast supports our decision.
•	The decisions being made by neighboring school districts.

I want to thank parents, students and staff in advance for your understanding the next time we need to make a decision to close school. When the snow piles up and/or the temperatures become extreme, we will need to make a decision regarding school closing. Please remember, that whenever possible, our schools will remain open. If you believe that the weather conditions are not appropriate for your children to report to school, please exercise your right to keep them home. At the same time, we ask that everyone respect the rights of parents who choose to send their children to school.

Richard W. Drury, Ed.D.
Superintendent