Dear KSD Families and Staff,
Making decisions regarding inclement weather is always challenging, especially with unexpected events like this morning's gusty winds causing power outages. This weather event was not on our radar as it could have been. A few members of the inclement weather team, along with Superintendent Vela, began texting between 4:30 and 5:00 AM as we received notifications of power outages at school sites. The inclement weather team convened shortly after 5:00 AM to assess the status of current outages. At that time, we had limited information, and it appeared that two schools and a couple of neighborhoods were without power.
As the early morning progressed, the winds intensified causing additional power outages and simultaneous restorations. We monitored the PSE outage map and attempted to contact a very busy PSE for updates. Our facilities and maintenance team were assessing the impact on our buildings through regular communication channels. High school buses begin their routes at 6:15 AM, and middle school buses at 7:00 AM. Information about trees blocking roadways was not received until after 7:00 AM, by which time the high school and middle school buses were already moving forward.
We continued to assess the four elementary schools without power and then worked to communicate their closures as well as prepare for the two impacted middle schools to get their students back home safely once we had buses to provide transportation.
Our inclement weather team will conduct a thorough after-action review to improve our response in the future. We strive to make the best decisions promptly for our students, staff, and families, understanding the significant impact of these decisions. We apologize for any inconvenience or negative effects on our students, staff, families, and community.
We will do better next time.
KSD Inclement Weather Team