Cd'A considers delayed starts

A delayed start alternative to closing schools or keeping them open all day during inclement weather is being considered by the Coeur d'Alene School District.

An overwhelming response in support of a 2-hour delay option on snowy and icy mornings was the reported result of the "Weather Closure Options" survey the school district sent to families and staff last week. More than 3,100 people responded to the survey, which closed Wednesday.

It was brought about by feedback the district received regarding its decision to remain open when neighboring school districts closed during a minor ice storm that glazed the region a couple weeks ago.

"We definitely heard from folks who wondered why we were open, especially because Post Falls and Lakeland school districts were closed on that day," Coeur d'Alene School District communications director Scott Maben said Thursday. "The conditions we were seeing in Coeur d'Alene weren't exactly the same we were hearing about in Rathdrum and Post Falls. There’s micro-climates and variations and elevation ... It was a close call for us. I think it was a difficult decision in the end for our superintendent.

"If we had a 2-hour delay option, if we already had that in our planning, that might have been a day that would have helped."

Maben said of those who responded to the survey, 77.6 percent said yes, the school district should assess the option of a delayed start if weather or road conditions warrant it. It's an option that is exercised in many other school districts, but has not been implemented or discussed in Coeur d'Alene in recent memory.

"None of us could remember, and a lot of us are new, but the folks who have been here some time couldn't recall if Coeur d'Alene public schools had done delayed starts in the past or why we don't do them," Maben said. "Superintendent Steve Cook asked the question, 'Why don't we look at this?'"

District officials, bus drivers and others are out in the community by 3:30 a.m. to decide whether to cancel school during snowy and icy conditions. Two extra hours would allow more time for those evaluations.

"A lot can change in those early morning hours," Maben said. "It also gives street crews a little more time to get out there and work on the streets and sidewalks, including our own maintenance people who are working on parking lots, sidewalks in front of schools and crosswalks as well as city and county crews that are out working. It also gives you more daylight; if the kids are walking to school and it's dark and it's slick out, it's more hazardous for them when they're crossing streets and drivers don't have as much traction to stop."

Those surveyed who opposed the 2-hour delay option cited work schedules, child care and transportation as issues that would affect them if the delay were to be implemented.

Maben said when the district closed schools on Wednesday, it didn't receive nearly as much feedback as when it decided not to close during that icy day earlier in the month.

"A lot of people seemed to question that," he said. "They felt it was not the right conditions for kids to make their way to school. We think about little kids walking, but think about those young, new drivers, high school students who have their permits, or just received their driver's license. Driving in those conditions is new for them, so we had a lot of parents expressing that worry. We appreciate hearing that."

Maben said the next step in implementing the 2-hour delay option will be to start working with the 17 schools in the district to coordinate what a shorter day will entail, including truncated classes, bell schedule changes and meal plans.

He said he wasn't sure exactly when schools would be able to use the 2-hour delay because it will take a week or two to flesh out the details, but hopes are to have it in place before it's needed, "and that could be at any time."