Decorah School District outlines its severe weather policies

The Decorah School District has sent out a message to parents and to the community explaining its policies for school postponements and cancellations.

Superintendent Mark Lane writes, "When the National Weather Service (NWS) predicts inclement weather, we monitor forecasts throughout the evening, overnight, and during the early morning hours. When the issue is temperature-related, a standard we generally follow is to cancel school when the air temperature at 5:45 am is minus 20 or colder on weather.gov. When the issue is snow and/or ice-related, our Transportation Director, Jim Samuelson, Assistant Transportation Director, Jeff Austin, and I drive a variety of areas across the 301 square miles of our school district to assess road conditions. We are also in communication with our Maintenance and Grounds Director, and city and county staff to understand schedules for clearing roads and parking areas, and the progress that will be made by the time staff and students will be arriving at school. If weather issues arise during the school day, we go through similar protocols when determining if an early-dismissal is necessary."

Lane says the school district's goal is to inform families of school cancellation by 6:00 a.m. and by 11:00 a.m. for early dismissals.

Weather cancellations and postponements are notified by email, by phone, by local radio and television stations, by the school district's website---and on decorahnews.com