School Delays, Closure, & Early Releases

NRHEG has three main options to use to keep our students educated when the weather creates challenges.

● Delay the start of the school day
● Have an early release
● Close for the entire day.

Knowing that our youngest learners require supervision while at home, all options are carefully considered. When closed for an entire day, students will engage in Flexible Learning Day activities assigned by their teachers.

The District may conclude that we can safely transport students to and from school and keep school open, but an individual parent may disagree with our decision. Under such conditions, parents must exercise their judgment regarding the attendance of their child(ren). The District will respect all reasonable decisions to keep students home in these circumstances.

We will carefully consider all factors when bad weather is occurring or predicted, and student and staff safety will be the major priority in developing our response. Keeping schools open or closing them are major decisions when faced with weather conditions that could affect travel or the safety of students and staff. Keeping school open is not about financial considerations but about our commitment to educate our students.

JMC enables us to communicate directly with every family in the District through email and phone virtually simultaneously about our decisions regarding evolving weather conditions or other emergencies. The system is very effective, but we need your help in maintaining accurate contact information if you wish to receive a text message in the event of a school closing or emergency.

The primary location used for communication is the district’s website. All families will be sent an email, text message, and phone call, depending on your preferences allowed in JMC. Please contact your child’s school office if you would like to change your communication preferences. We will also utilize the following when accessible:

TV Stations: KEYC TV, KARE 11, WCCO, KAAL 6 News, KSTP 5, KTTC, FOX 9, KIMT 4
Radio Stations: KROC, KATE, KOWZ, KDHL, KRFO, Power 96, KatKountry

We do not guarantee that all TV and radio stations will be accessible and utilized. Please refer to the district website for all official communications.

● SAC will be closed whenever school is closed due to snow or hazardous road conditions.
● If school is closed because of cold temperatures, SAC will remain open in New Richland only, unless otherwise announced.
● When school has a delayed start, SAC will open the same amount of time later.
● On early release days, SAC will stay open for one hour after school dismisses.

● The NRHEG PreSchool Program will be closed on days that school is canceled.
● If the start of the school day is delayed, there will be no morning PreSchool.
● Listen for announcements on early release days regarding PreSchool programming.

These programs will be canceled when school is closed. A late start will cancel morning practices and programming. Early releases may cancel afternoon and evening programs. The general guideline is that unsafe conditions for students and staff to get to and from school are also unsafe conditions for afternoon and evening activities. An exception may be made when there is a significant difference between the weather in the morning and the weather in the afternoon and/or evening.