Multiple Early School Dismissals Shows Importance Of Planning

The majority of Upper Cumberland schools dismissed early Wednesday due to the threat of severe weather.

Situations like this remind families the importance of having a early dismissal plan ready. White County Director of Schools Kurt Dronebarger said the key is knowing where a student will be.

“Who is going to be able to pick them up, who can watch them until parents get home from work, where’s an alternative placement for them to be in the event of inclement weather like we had today, so those things are really important to know where students are going to be and make sure to have that plan on file.”

Dronebarger said White County students are asked to have a plan on file. Dronebarger said the having those alternatives ready before a weather event help teachers prepare while also ensuring safety.

“They have that recorded in their student information system, so we know if they maybe ride a different bus on that day, maybe they are parent pickup or they have a different pickup person that day,” Dronebarger said. “So, we have all that in place, and we ask parents to have that in place before these events happen.”

Dronebarger said as a director, his goal is to always have students in school but weather often changes that. Dronebarger said a lot goes into a decision to dismiss, but student safety comes first. Dronebarger said the possible high winds Wednesday presented dangers to buses.

“It was a situation where we were expecting severe thunderstorms right at dismissal time, and obviously buses could be out there with high winds and that is a dangerous situation and we don’t want that,” Dronebarger said. “If we can get students home, we feel like its safer to get them there.”

Dronebarger said he also tries to keep parents and faculty in mind when closing schools.