Santa Fe Public Schools Weatherline 467-3541

• A District team reviews weather forecasts daily; if it is very evident that we will need to delay or close the following day, we send out a public notice before 10:00 p.m.

• If it is not evident the night before, beginning at about 4:00 a.m. select transportation staff in the city and rural areas begin to assess road conditions.  We monitor weather reports and, when appropriate, consult with city and county officials. 

• A District team confers.  If we need to delay or close schools, we alert parents and the community as close to 6:00 a.m. as possible.  Also, because we must ensure that students from Madrid to Tesuque to the far southside to the far eastside, etc. can be picked up, sometimes we must delay/close even though streets may be clear in other parts of town.

• Once buses start picking up children (as early as 6:15 a.m.) we, as a matter of practice, do not delay or close schools.  Our reasoning is that once students are picked up and at school, the risk is too great that parents/guardians might not receive our robocalls and could be unaware that their children are en route home.  We risk children walking home and finding their homes locked or arriving at bus stops in dangerous and inclement weather with no one to pick them up.  Our youngest students in PreK are four years old.

• It is much safer for students to stay in school, giving the city and county time to cinder and salt the roads, which improves driving conditions between 2:30 and 4:00 p.m.

• We always give parents/guardians the option to pick up their students if they are concerned about their child’s safety.

• The safety of our employees is important, and we ask supervisors to accommodate their employees if they have transportation challenges.

• Please note that if we do close school for the day, it only applies to school-site personnel.  Even when schools close, District-based personnel continue to report to work.   District employees and department staff are to report as soon as they may safely drive, but no later than two hours after normal start times.

• In very rare and extreme circumstances we will call an early release or close offices for District staff.

Important Note: Organizations like state agencies that employ and serve adults and do not transport children have different considerations and flexibility to release in the middle of the day.