For D90 students at Lincoln and Willard Elementary Schools, the school day will begin at 10:20 a.m.; while at Roosevelt Middle School, classes will begin at 10:30 a.m. Students will be dismissed at the normally scheduled times. Early Childhood classes at Lincoln and Willard have remained canceled for tomorrow. All afterschool and evening programing also remain canceled.
For D97 students, school will remain closed, but district officials said that parents and guardians should plan for school to re-open on Friday, Dec. 9., barring more inclement weather. They also advised parents and guardians to continue monitoring the district website and local media sources for updates.
For students at Oak Park and River Forest High School, first period classes will begin at 10 a.m., but the building will open at 7 a.m. Students “may enter at the Main Entrance, Erie Street Entrance, or the South Hall Mall entrance,” according to an official statement released by the district.
While all practices and activities scheduled before school have been canceled, all afterschool programming will continue as scheduled. Students’ grades will be up on Family Access on Friday, Jan. 9, while paper report cards will not be mailed until Jan. 12.
D90 officials stressed that, although schools will open tomorrow, parents shouldn’t feel pressured to bring their children to school against their judgments.
“Though we believe that a delayed start on Thursday is appropriate in light of the anticipated conditons, we also understand that there is a possibility some families might desire to keep children home,” according to a statement the district released.
“If [parents] elect to keep [their] child(ren) home tomorrow, please be assured that the absence will be considered ‘excused’ and teachers will take the circumstances into account,” the statement reads.
D90 officials explained that the decision to reopen tomorrow was based on an expectation that weather conditions would improve by then.
“The National Weather Service has downgraded the severity of weather conditions from a Wind Chill Warning to a Wind Chill Advisory,” according to the district’s statement. “Though temperatures in the morning are still predicted to be very cold, this no longer qualifies them as “life-threatening” (by the National Weather Service definition).”
On the contrary, D97’s justification to close was based on the National Weather Service forecasting “dangerously frigid weather” for Thursday.