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December 12, 2025
GLPS Families:
The winter weather arrived early this year! It is rare that we have two snow days in a row before the holiday break, but here we are, with winter weather forecasted throughout the next couple of weeks as well. Given the fact that we had the two snow days, I thought this would be a good opportunity to share our process for making weather-based decisions. Oftentimes, I will send a follow-up email on the snow day itself, but I held off this week to combine it into one update.
If you visit our website, you will notice a banner that scrolls by with information about school closings. When you click on it, the link takes you to this document, which outlines our process, philosophy, and procedures for closing school and how we communicate with families. We know that snow days can be a mix of excitement and in-the-moment planning for families, often very early in the morning, so we take our responsibility to balance education, safety, and family needs very seriously. I invite you to read through the document to better understand our process.
Calling snow days on Wednesday and Thursday of this week followed our protocol. Our district team was up and on the roads by 4:15 am both days. Wednesday, it was obvious that multiple inches of heavy wet snow were going to create a hazardous morning commute for buses and student drivers, both on the main roads and on the back roads. Forecasted freezing rain, dropping temperatures, and the number of roads that still needed to be plowed caused our teams to err on the side of caution and cancel evening activities as well. As for childcare and preschool, we always consider whether or not it is safe to unload students from cars or cross the road in the morning at our childcare locations. Given the conditions on Wednesday morning, we did not feel that it was, so we cancelled those programs, too.
Thursday was a bit of a different story. The main roads were clear and dry, but as our document mentions, we have over 125 square miles in our district, and that includes many rural and dirt roads. The temperature dropped throughout the day on Wednesday and overnight, and more snow and freezing rain arrived, along with wind. That caused patches of drifting snow and ice on rural paved roads, and many of our dirt roads were iced over and not safe for buses or drivers as we approached 5:00 am. So, we decided to cancel. However, the roads and parking lots outside of our early childhood and Adventure Club sites were clear and safe, so we felt comfortable running those programs. In addition, the lack of forecasted rain or snow throughout the day, coupled with the clear main roads around our schools, allowed us to run evening activities.
Each weather event is different, and each situation requires thoughtful consideration. After all, we do live in Michigan, and we do not need to cancel school every time it snows. There will be some mornings when the commute will be challenging, and there will be some afternoons when we have to take it slow going home because it snowed all day. However, our team is diligent throughout the winter, making the best decision we can to keep our buses and families safe on the roads. If we feel that we would be putting our buses or drivers in an unsafe situation by asking them to be on the roads, we cancel. If we feel they can make it with a little extra caution, we stay open. I appreciate your understanding and flexibility, and I appreciate your support of our team as we make decisions for the district.
We are glad kids are back in the buildings today, and we are glad we have the opportunity to work with them, and you, every day. Thank you for all you do; have a great weekend, and as always, I am #proudtobeacomet!
Dr. Bill Barnes
Superintendent of Schools
