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Reminder about inclement weather, transportation, and school closure notices

Just a reminder to our Catholic community that inclement weather-related notices such as transportation cancellations or delays and 'schools closed to students' notifications are communicated through Student Transportation Services - Brant, Haldimand, Norfolk (STSBHN). It is recommended that parents/guardians utilize the stsbhn.ca notification subscription service. By subscribing to STSBHN alerts, you will receive inclement weather notifications as early as possible. Communication also takes place through local radio stations, on twitter (@stsbhn) (@bhncdsb) and on the Board and school websites in that order.

As well, soon all BHNCDSB families will be using School Messenger... our new notification system that will be up and running this spring. This system will be connected to the STSBHN alerts and you will be able to receive emails, phone calls, and even text messages about inclement weather.

Weather, power, road and safety conditions can change substantially within a few hours, therefore assessments and decisions must be made as close to school opening as possible and based on information gathered from road condition spotters across the district and a meteorologist, for the information to be reliable. Weather forecasts for the entire school day are also taken into consideration in the decision making. STSBHN begins to communicate inclement weather notifications by 6:30 a.m. and can update the information throughout the time leading up to the start of the school day.

Even if transportation is not cancelled/delayed and all schools are open, many schools and transportation routes can face conditions and circumstances unique to a neighbourhood or route. Therefore, the district encourages and respects the importance of parental decision-making regarding accessing a school, based on parents' own location and individual circumstances, their route to school and overall attention to safety.

No announcement will be made that schools are open; only cancellations, closures or delayed transportation routes will be communicated.

If you are wondering how transportation cancellation or delays or even school closures due to inclement weather are decided, please view our video. It explains who is involved in the decision and how it is made.

If you have any questions or concerns pertaining to our Inclement Weather process, please email info@bhncdsb.ca