Closing for Weather?

[TaylorTots]

I have in my handbook "NO SCHOOL DAYS
On days in which school is closed (e.g. snow days) without notice, childcare reserves the right to close if the weather is too severe. In these instances, regular childcare fees apply."

I am in central Iowa. We have had a lot of snow in the last 24 hours and its suppose to continue until this evening. We have tons of wind and its blowing the drive shut. I went out to test the roads, they are ice and the plows are keeping up alright. I only have two children tomorrow, one of which is on maternity leave so mom is home.

If school closes, I completely plan to close. Does this seem unreasonable? How much notice do I give to the parents? I thought about putting a notice on my daycare facebook page and tagging parents in it that it is a good possibility and they will be texted this evening whether or not daycare is open tomorrow. Does that sound ok?

[Unregistered]

Sounds fine

Sounds fine that's what I do too! I also call the local news stations and put my closing on the tv

[Febby]

The center I used to work at would post a notice on their Facebook page and text all the parents and staff (they had some kind of system to send mass texts to all parents/staff). I think they all sent out e-mails.

Interestingly, some parents STILL wouldn't know that the center was closed or opening late...

[daycarediva]

I am on a 2 hour delay today due to weather. We are not in a SOE, but we got hammered with snow, schools are closed and it's taking dh and ds forever to dig us out. We also lost power last night, and had pipes freeze (fortunately cannot break because they are pecs, but we are using space heaters and a gas generator to warm the pipes back up-which are regulation no-nos.)

I posted on my daycare fb page, sent a mass email and a mass text AND put it on our local news.

somebody will show up.

[Play Care]

I am on a 2 hour delay today due to weather. We are not in a SOE, but we got hammered with snow, schools are closed and it's taking dh and ds forever to dig us out. We also lost power last night, and had pipes freeze (fortunately cannot break because they are pecs, but we are using space heaters and a gas generator to warm the pipes back up-which are regulation no-nos.)

I posted on my daycare fb page, sent a mass email and a mass text AND put it on our local news.

somebody will show up.

Ugh, sorry you are dealing with that! But had to :: about someone showing, cause I know how that goes...

I closed today, while not under a SOE, we are supposed to have over a foot of snow by the time all is said and done here - my driveway hasn't ben plowed yet and it's coming down faster than I can get door ways and walkways cleared. The evening commute isn't supposed to be any better than the morning one. I would have 4 kids today - three from a family where mom has work from home options. I texted everyone and put on sign on the front door just in case

[Crazy8]

As long as they know its a possiblility I would just put it on your FB page or send a reminder that a decision will be made based on what the schools do.

My families know I am open in the inclement weather as long as I have power and running water - if those are out I need to be closed per state regs.

I go down my fb page and I see schools closed, daycare centers closed, but I am open as long as a parent wants to risk it, thinking about changing that policy though!

[daycarediva]

I should have closed!

Somebody was waiting to pull into my driveway at 7:50.


There was no side street parking because of the snow, and dh was still shoveling and our neighbor was even using his snowblower to help. It's STILL coming down hard, hasn't let up at all. Dh decided not to call his guys in to work/gave them the day off. He has shoveled 3 times since this morning, too.

Only one family opted not to come because her work closed. The rest came, regardless, and one family had work close and went HOME. They are coming back out to pick up later.

[AmyKidsCo]

It sounds reasonable to me!

I've been rethinking my policy and DH & I decided that if there's a No School day due to snow I'll open later. I'd really love to close entirely but some parents need to work regardless. Since I don't want to open myself up to a lawsuit if I can't clear the snow and someone falls this is a middle-ground policy.

[AmyKidsCo]

Somebody was waiting to pull into my driveway at 7:50.

PS - Reminds me of the time a family who lived on my block couldn't make it here because of the snow, but a family who lived 20 min away borrowed the neighbor's SUV so they could make it. It wasn't a family who HAD to work either...

[SilverSabre25]

I only close for a Level 3 Snow emergency (no travel AT ALL. PERIOD. FOR ANY REASON). I think it's happened once in 5 years.

[lovemykidstoo]

I have in my handbook "NO SCHOOL DAYS
On days in which school is closed (e.g. snow days) without notice, childcare reserves the right to close if the weather is too severe. In these instances, regular childcare fees apply."

I am in central Iowa. We have had a lot of snow in the last 24 hours and its suppose to continue until this evening. We have tons of wind and its blowing the drive shut. I went out to test the roads, they are ice and the plows are keeping up alright. I only have two children tomorrow, one of which is on maternity leave so mom is home.

If school closes, I completely plan to close. Does this seem unreasonable? How much notice do I give to the parents? I thought about putting a notice on my daycare facebook page and tagging parents in it that it is a good possibility and they will be texted this evening whether or not daycare is open tomorrow. Does that sound ok?

Do you run an in-home daycare? As long as your parents know that this is a possibility then they shouldn't have a problem with it. Can I ask though why you would close if the roads are bad if you don't have to travel? I'm totally not judging I"m just curious. I am in-home and if they can get here, I'll work. All of my parents still had to work today after we just got 7 1/2 inches. Our neighborhood was ridiculous. A great way to reach parents is a system called Remind101 You go to Remind101.com and signup. It's 100% free. What you do is input your parents cellphone numbers and you can text them all at one time. It's a 1 way system. They can't text you back through it. Our coaches use it for sports announcements and it works great.

[Unregistered]

If Xxxxxx schools close due to inclement weather child care will also be closed. If your workplace closes due to weather or other emergency your child should remain with you. If your workplace closes early you should pick your child up promptly.

^^That is my policy. I can decide to stay open if I don't think closing is necessary. And of course I do not expect parents to pick their children up DURING a severe storm. But most often workplaces close before it happens.

[Play Care]

Do you run an in-home daycare? As long as your parents know that this is a possibility then they shouldn't have a problem with it. Can I ask though why you would close if the roads are bad if you don't have to travel? I'm totally not judging I"m just curious. I am in-home and if they can get here, I'll work. All of my parents still had to work today after we just got 7 1/2 inches. Our neighborhood was ridiculous. A great way to reach parents is a system called Remind101 You go to Remind101.com and signup. It's 100% free. What you do is input your parents cellphone numbers and you can text them all at one time. It's a 1 way system. They can't text you back through it. Our coaches use it for sports announcements and it works great.

I'm not the OP, but I do close. Years ago I thought at I didn't need to drive so what was the big deal. Then we had the Nor'Easter of the century. A child who seemed fine at drop off started complaining an hour later of not feeling well. A minute later she was projectile vomiting all over my house. No one could come get her - mom had gotten stuck driving to the office (a drive that normally took 30 minutes took over two hours ) and her back ups could not get out of their driveways. That was my lightbulb moment. It's not enough for them to get to your house - they need to be able to pick up.
And the new regulations back this up. We have to do two shelter in place drills a year. Under that reg it states that if we know in advance that conditions could deteriorate to the point we could possible have to SIP, then they strongly urge us to close.
What I take that to mean is that if, heaven forbid, something were to happen during a weather event and a child was hurt, etc. I'm going to get a double whammy - in trouble because he child was hurt and hit with another citation because I shouldnt have been operating (obviously depending on how the child was injured) it's just easier for me to close and not have to worry about it.

[lovemykidstoo]

I'm not the OP, but I do close. Years ago I thought at I didn't need to drive so what was the big deal. Then we had the Nor'Easter of the century. A child who seemed fine at drop off started complaining an hour later of not feeling well. A minute later she was projectile vomiting all over my house. No one could come get her - mom had gotten stuck driving to the office (a drive that normally took 30 minutes took over two hours ) and her back ups could get out of their driveways. That was my lightbulb moment. It's not enough for them to get to your house - they need to be able to pick up.
And the new regulations back this up. We have to do two shelter in place drills a year. Under that reg it states that if we know in advance that conditions could deteriorate to the point we could possible have to SIP, then they strongly urge us to close.
What I take that to mean is that if, heaven forbid, something were to happen during a weather event and a child was hurt, etc. I'm going to get a double whammy - in trouble because he child was hurt and hit with another citation because I shouldnt have been operating (obviously depending on how the child was injured) it's just easier for me to close and not have to worry about it.

Thanks I appreciate you explaining the reason.

[Unregistered]

When I first opened, I put in the handbook that I would close based upon the weather determination that day. We are in Maryland, and there are people who will show up when there are 10 inches of snow. Sure, we live here, but they are putting their kids in danger with snow and ice on the road because "well, we have a 4 wheel drive, and we've always driven in snow." No way. I used to stress making sure everything was shoveled and salted...looking out the weather to see how bad it was..sending text pictures to parents so they could decide if they were going to bring their kids.

No more. With the start of my second year, I totally changed my policy. I now go with the County school system for closings and early closings, and I go with the local nursery school on delays. If there is a 2-hour delay, I open at 9 a.m. with the parents' discretion (if they feel it is too bad, they can keep kiddos home).

So much better! Such less stress! Only one parent complained in an offhand way..."I think the school closes just to make sure they aren't liable." I just smiled and nodded!