Icy road conditions are causing Abilene ISD to cancel school more frequently than normal. Director of Communications, Phil Ashby, said there could be more delays and closings before winter is over.
So how do AISD administrators decide to delay or cancel school? Ashby said it all starts the night before, by paying attention to forecasts and reports from the Texas Department of Transportation. Abilene ISD relies on radar technology from Dyess Air Force Base and they work closely with Wylie ISD to determine road conditions.
If a real time decision needs to be made on a weekday morning then the AISD Transportation Director goes out around 4 a.m. to check roads. He’s not the only one braving the weather to check for hazardous areas.
“You know, some of the most valuable information we get is from patrol officers from the Abilene Police Department,” Ashby said. “They are all over town and they cover our city 24 hours.”
School administrators sometimes join a conference call with the Abilene Police Department, Dyess Air Force Base and Wylie ISD, and then decide what action to take.
The next step is notifying parents.
“You know for most of my career it was turn on the TV and see what the scroll says and now with call-outs and tweeting and email and all those kinds of platforms the word gets out pretty quickly,” Ashby said.
School has been closed four days out of 170. The state requires that each school district put a minimum of two inclement weather days in their permanent calendar.
Extending the last day of school by one day and not observing Memorial Day for a vacation day will make up two of the cancelations. If any more days are canceled, the district may have to apply for waivers from the state to avoid extending the school year.
“Everyone would agree that batting average isn’t as great when you’re trying to predict precipitation in West Texas,” Ashby said.
