Winter weather closes schools in Cd'A, Lakeland districts today
COEUR d'ALENE — Classes are canceled for the Coeur d'Alene and Lakeland school districts today because of inclement weather.
Post Falls School District is expecting to hold class, but will announce any closures early this morning.
Coeur d'Alene School District sent a communication to parents late Tuesday afternoon informing families that the decision to close was made after consulting local public service leaders, including the Coeur d’Alene Police Department, and reviewing recent weather alerts for North Idaho.
"We understand that decisions of this magnitude can create challenges for families," the announcement said. "The decision to cancel classes in advance is intended to give our families time to make alternative arrangements with as much notice as possible."
The National Weather Service is predicting heavy snow today and this evening. A regional winter storm warning is in place until 4 a.m. Thursday. Between 7 and 12 inches of snow is expected in the valleys and 12 to 18 inches in the mountains. Travel could be hazardous, impacting morning and evening commutes.
All district activities, events and student meetings are canceled, including athletic practices and competitions, as well as other extracurricular activities.
Coeur d'Alene's SchoolPLUS program will be open to registered families and will operate at Ramsey Magnet School starting at 6:30 a.m.
Fernan STEM Academy was closed Tuesday because of a boiler going down Monday night, resulting in a loss of heat that caused several water lines to freeze and burst, causing water leaks. Several classrooms and the main office in the south corridor of the building were damaged by water, about one-third of the building. The building had partial heat Tuesday, but no running water, the district said in an announcement to Fernan families. District crews were on site Tuesday at Fernan, extracting water from the building and assessing damage.
Coeur d'Alene High School also suffered burst pipes that required athletic activities to move to Woodland Middle School.
"They just moved the basketball games to Woodland because some pipes burst in the locker rooms and they had to turn the water off," Coeur d'Alene High ASB President Andi-Jane Howard told The Press late Tuesday afternoon. "Luckily, it happened after school."
Lakeland Superintendent Lisa Arnold sent a memo to Lakeland families also citing weather, as well as conversations with Kootenai County officials regarding plowing, for her district's closure.
"This closure will also give our facilities department time to take care of some cracked pipes and leaks in some of our schools," Arnold said in the announcement. "Please be safe."
Post Falls will evaluate road conditions this morning and, if necessary, send a closure notification by 5:30 a.m., Post Falls Superintendent Dena Naccarato said in a communication to Post Falls families.
