ST. GEORGE — The Washington County School District has delayed regular school hours at some of its schools Friday as the result of a winter storm passing through Washington County and causing hazardous road conditions.
Thursday night, winter weather – including accumulating snow and layers of ice – created difficult and dangerous driving conditions on roads and highways throughout Southern Utah.
“The district is concerned about the safety of all students, staff and patrons,” school officials said. “We encourage everyone to use caution traveling safely to and from our schools and buildings.”
While all St. George-area schools are on regular schedules Friday with no delays, Hurricane-area schools will be on a two-hour delay, according to a statement issued by the Washington County School District.
Those schools include: Hurricane High, Hurricane Middle, Hurricane Intermediate, Hurricane Elementary, Three Falls Elementary, LaVerkin Elementary, Water Canyon High and Water Canyon Elementary.
Additionally, Tuacahn High School for the Performing Arts will be on a two-hour delay.
All other schools will begin at their normal designated start times.
Other areas of the district will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, the school district said, adding that areas with steep inclines may not be accessible by its buses.
“The district recognizes the rights of parents to make decisions that are best for their children,” school district officials said. “Therefore, the option to keep children home when weather conditions are severe is always at the parents’ discretion and the school respects the decision.”
Students who are kept home by a parent or guardian will not be penalized for their absence or tardiness if their parent calls the student’s school office to excuse them, school officials said.
Make-up schoolwork may be necessary for students who are absent, officials added, but schools are expected to accommodate those students on the timely completion of required assignments or tests.
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“Therefore, the option to keep children home when weather conditions are severe is always at the parents’ discretion and the school respects the decision.”
This policy results in many, many parents keeping their kids home and nothing happening in school. If they are going to float this option, they need to just close the schools. My kids had classes that were roughly 1/3 full today. Complete waste. We had no problem on the roads, which included some steep hills.
Y’all had probably had more snow than we did over here and schools were shut down and closed today because of close to a 1/2″ of snow. 🙂