Emergency Weather Protocols

How will the school district communicate a delay or cancellation due to weather?

1. As soon as a decision is made, it will be communicated to parents via email, phone calls and texts.
You will get an alert via the method(s) that you’ve selected in your Worthington School account.
To review, update or change your notification choices, you can follow this link for step-by-step instructions. (en español)

2. Notification alerts will also be sent directly to phones through the Worthington Schools app. 

3. The information is also posted on the following:

• Worthington Schools district website (and all building sites) – www.worthingtonschools.finalsite.org
• Worthington Schools Facebook – www.facebook.com/worthingtonschools
• Worthington Schools Twitter/X – www.twitter.com/wcsdistrict
• Worthington Schools Instagram - www.instagram.com/worthingtonschools

4. Local television, newspaper and radio outlets will be contacted so that it is included in their coverage.

When will the decision be made?

The decision to cancel or delay school will be made as early as possible, but the time will vary due to the weather conditions. It may be the night before in some cases or in the early morning before classes start, if conditions are changing. Our goal will be to make the decision to cancel or delay school by 5:45 a.m.

What factors are taken into consideration when making the decision to delay or cancel school?

Student safety is our ultimate priority when making any decision due to the weather. The school district also understands that changes in school schedules create a tremendous burden for our families.

Our goal is to safely transport our children to and from school so that learning can take place. We try to weigh many factors in the decision - including road conditions for buses and cars, visibility due to falling precipitation, and the safety of children walking or waiting at bus stops.

A wind chill factor dropping below -20 degrees may also force a delay or cancellation. We do not want students waiting at bus stops on extremely cold days when the temperatures could be dangerous to their health.

What about student activities?

If school is cancelled, all buildings will be closed for routine business during the day, BUT plan on evening school activities to be HELD as scheduled. If weather conditions don’t improve in the morning, the district will make the decision to cancel evening activities by 1 p.m. on most days.

The district will communicate event cancellations through the principals and group leaders, the website and social media. Unless you hear otherwise, plan for the following:

• Athletic team practices and/or games will go on as scheduled*
• Extra-curricular group activities and meetings will go on as scheduled
• Planned events like music concerts, drama performances and art shows will go on as scheduled
• Field trips will be determined on a case-by-case basis. 
• Care Before & Care After School will be cancelled.

* Please note that athletic contests involving Worthington teams (both home and away) will also involve other school districts, and it may take time to determine a final decision on competitions. We hope to have any announcements made by 1 p.m if possible. Communication will be made via coaches, the Worthington Schools website, and social media.

What schedule changes do I need to know if school is delayed?

• Worthington Schools has plans in place for both one-hour and two-hour delays. Information on the delays will be shared to all parents via phone, text, media & online as posted above.
• Transportation will run in accordance with the time of the delay (i.e. either one or two hours later than scheduled)
• Principals at each building will already have one-hour and two-hour delay schedules in place and will communicate that information to students.
• Before school extra-curricular activities will be cancelled. After school activities will be held as normal, unless specified via district communication channels.
• Care Before School programs will be cancelled in the event of a delay.
• For one-hour delays, pre-k and AM kindergarten will start one-hour after normal time. In the event of a two-hour delay, pre-k and AM kindergarten will be cancelled.
• Decisions to continue scheduled field trips on delayed school days will be made on a case-by-case basis.

What happens in the event of an early release?

If the situation arises that an early release is necessary, the announcement will be made as soon as possible. While situations vary, the following release schedule will be used if possible:

· High school students at 1:00 p.m.
· Middle school students at 1:45 p.m.
· Elementary school would follow normal dismissal

Care After School will be closed if there's an early release due to weather.

Decisions about school activities will be made and announced at the time of the early release.

A Worthington administrator will stay in the buildings to ensure that all students and staff are safely released.

What if there’s bad weather over the weekend?

Worthington Schools will make every effort to hold events. Unless you’re notified by the school district, plan on the event taking place.

The Transportation Department will make the decision if buses cannot be dispatched and need to be cancelled for weekend activities involving school groups. For morning events, the decision will be made by 5:45 a.m. For afternoon events, the decision will be made by 1 p.m.

Communication will be made via administrators, coaches, instructors and/or group leaders to the parents and students involved.