Dieringer District News
December 3, 2021
Educating every child for confidence today and contribution tomorrow.
The Dieringer School District will provide all students with appropriate high-quality programs in a safe, challenging and inclusive school environment. This mission will be undertaken with respect for and in partnership with families and the community.
Community Drop-In Vaccine Clinic
A Message from the Superintendent
With the first hint of lowland snow mixed with rain this weekend I thought this would be a good chance to revisit our winter weather plans. Our district staff understands that our decision to open or close schools in bad weather has a big effect on families. We also understand that our students are better served both academically and socially by being in school. But as always, our top priority is the safety of our students and our staff.
HOW DO WE MAKE OUR DECISION?
Please understand that we make the decision to open or close the schools in bad weather based on a careful analysis of many factors, such as:
Information on road conditions from transportation staff, local weather reports, and the police. We must give careful consideration to the most dangerous roads in the district. Even if your street looks clear, travel elsewhere in the district may be dangerous.
Amount of snow and ice accumulated.
Whether precipitation is continuing.
Building conditions (such as whether we have electricity and heat).
Parking lot conditions. Administrators talk to maintenance and custodial staff members who are responsible for clearing and treating school parking lots and sidewalks.
Temperature and wind chill, especially in regard to students who wait outside for the bus.
What are our neighboring school districts doing? We share information with other local districts and check whether they are opening or closing.
Weather predictions. We prefer not to make our decision based on weather predictions, which are not always accurate. But sometimes this is unavoidable.
WHO MAKES THE DECISION?
As superintendent of schools, I am responsible for the final decision, based on the above factors and recommendations from the Manager of Transportation and Maintenance.
HOW WILL YOU BE NOTIFIED?
A phone call will go out via School Messenger to all current households. The district will publicize any school delays of closures to local area radio and television stations. We will also post information on the district website, Facebook and Twitter.
WHEN IS THE DECISION MADE?
I must make the decision by 5:00 am or earlier so we can notify radio and TV stations and post the decision on our website and social media. If I wait longer to announce a closing, some parents may have already left for work, leaving their children unsupervised. The process for this often starts at 3AM or the night before with me, the Manager of Transportation, and our Operations Supervisor driving the roads of the district.
WILL WE NOT COME TO SCHOOL AND SWITCH TO REMOTE/VIRTUAL LEARNING AND STILL HOLD CLASSES?
This is a possibility and depends on many of the factors mentioned above. In addition to those factors, we must also take into account the timing and possible duration of a weather event. If we know a large snow event is on its way with relative certainty we can plan ahead for remote learning. If a smaller storm surprises us or we know with the same relative certainty that the event will just last a day, we may just call a snow day. Some additional logistics impact this decision too, we have to take into account whether students take their devices home each night along with our teacher’s ability to provide quality instruction from home if they were unable to get to our schools and teach from their classrooms.
TRANSPORTATION
When there are icy or snowy conditions busses may run on designated snow routes.
Check the transportation website for school closures and snow route information. If you normally drive your children to school, your student is welcome to take the bus on snowy or icy days. You may access bus routes, snow routes, delays and closures on the transportation web page. https://www.dieringer.wednet.edu/departments/transportation
WILL WE CLOSE SCHOOL IF CONDITIONS WORSEN?
Keep in mind that, even if weather conditions worsen, we cannot reverse our decision in the morning without endangering students. Once we make the decision to open the schools, many parents rely on it and leave for work. If we then send students right back home, many will return to unsupervised bus stops and empty houses. If conditions get worse during the school day, we may need to have any early dismissal, but we will give adequate notice to all parents first.
Although my staff and I do our absolute best in this process, we know that often no perfect decision exists. If, based on current weather conditions, you do not feel as though it is safe for your child to attend school, use your best judgment on whether he or she should attend.
We hope that this explanation helps everyone understand the process that our district staff uses to make the best possible decision for all in our district. We value the safety and security for all of our students. Be safe this season!
Thank you,
Michael Farmer
Superintendent
Winter Break
STUDENTS
No School in session for students December 20-31. School resumes Monday, January 3rd.DISTRICT OFFICE
The District Office will be closed December 23-31. The District Office will reopen Monday, January 3rd.
December School Board Meetings
Meeting schedule, public comment, and minutes information can be found on the website.
- Monday, December 6th : Special Board Meeting - Board Reorganization
- Monday, December 13th : Regular Board Meeting
Contact Us
District Office Hours : 7:30am - 4:30pm (Mon-Fri)
Fax : 253-862-8472
Superintendent : Michael Farmer, mfarmer@dieringer.wednet.edu
Email: communications@dieringer.wednet.edu
Website: https://www.dieringer.wednet.edu/
Location: Dieringer School District, 178th Avenue East, Lake Tapps, WA, USA
Phone: 253-862-2537
Facebook: facebook.com/DSD343/
Twitter: @DieringerSD343