Weather and Maple Run Schools Update

11:45 AM - April 4, 2024

Good Morning,

I wanted to share a quick update on the weather, schools, and transportation for this afternoon; as well as provide clarity on this morning's decision to open schools.

This afternoon:

After consultation with the bus company, town road crews, and building principals, schools will dismiss at their normal time today. All after-school activities are canceled.

There are several bus stops that may be impacted by highly local conditions this afternoon. If your child is impacted, you will receive a message from the school in the next hour.

This morning:

From 4:30 AM to 5:45 AM the Franklin County superintendents were in communication about weather and road conditions. The following were key pieces of information we based our decision off of:

National Weather Service updates - we’ve been receiving these updates for several days. As we got closer to today the forecast called for approximately 8 inches of snow over 36 hours.
Reports from town road crews (from all over Franklin County, but specifically Town, City, and Fairfield)
The bus company's appraisal of road conditions and ability to run busses, including the opinions of drivers who had already made the commute to school
Conditions on the ground at each campus (including the availability of power)

Snow-day decisions are not easy to make! When deciding to open school or not, we try to weigh:

The ability for students and staff to arrive at school safely
The communities need for childcare and other school provided services
The needs of the almost 1,000 food insecure students (for whom school may be the only guarantee of food in a day)
The need for families to know of a decision as soon as possible so they can plan their day

After having driven throughout St. Albans Town, City, and Fairfield this morning, I’m sorry to say conditions from 7 am to 9 am (prime commute to school time) the roads went from a dusting to worse.

In the middle of these changing conditions road crews, bus drivers, and school staff have been amazing trying to make this all work and keep our students safe; please join me in expressing gratitude to everyone in these positions today - they all showed up for our kids.

Please know that while we make the decision to open school, we always respect the family’s decision to send their child to school, or not, when you have questions or concerns about the safety of travel conditions. The school district will make the best decision it can with the information we have, and we respect every family's right to do the same. If you have further questions, or frustrations with the decision to open schools today, please reach out to me directly at jmuldoon@maplerun.org or via phone at 802-370-3970.

Thank you for understanding,

John Muldoon

Assistant Superintendent

St. Albans City School