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Santa Rosa schools warn of possible closures due to Friday stormNov 30, 2012 (The Press Democrat - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Officials at Sonoma County's largest school district warned parents that schools could be closed Friday because of the storm. Santa Rosa City Schools canceled a special meeting of the school board on Thursday night and issued notices alerting students, parents and staff about the potential for closures on Friday. "If we have a storm coming that is truly as bad as is on the forecast, we need to be paying attention," said Doug Bower, associate superintendent of Santa Rosa City Schools. "It's just kind of a head's up. I'm not trying to put any fear out there. I think it was a balanced communication." Principals across the 16,500-student district were instructed to communicate with families about the potential for either individual school closures or a district-wide shutdown. "We have a whole lot of new folks," Bower said of principals across the district. "A lot of people haven't ever been through the exercise." If school closures do occur, announcements will be published on The Press Democrat's website, www.pressdemocrat.com, and will air on radio channels KSRO, KZST, KRCB and KBBF, Bower said. Individual school principals may post information on their websites or communicate with parents via telephone. Bower was scheduled to meet with district maintenance officials at 6 a.m. Friday to determine if campus structures and surrounding roads were in safe condition. Principals were supposed to be alerted on each school's status by 6:30 a.m. "We'll have school-related issues, but we'll also have access issues," Bower said. "We have 16,000 kids and families that need to get to school but we also have 1,000 employees." "I don't call it overpreparing," Bower said. "I just think it's good communication." ___ (c)2012 The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.) Visit The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.) at www.pressdemocrat.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |