He said the district expects to decide about having calamity days by 1 a.m. the night before the school day starts, and ideally earlier, so families may find childcare and staff members who come in early and live far away won’t be making drives in dangerous weather.
DPS will notify parents through Parent Square, an app many schools use, text messages, notices to local TV stations and on their social media pages.
Robert Hunter, DPS director of operations, said a new agreement this year with the city of Dayton and DPS will have DPS brining and clearing some roads that are steep or difficult to navigate, including a section in Southeast Dayton near Cleveland Elementary and Belmont High School, and a section near Hillcrest around E.J. Brown Middle School.
A section near Belle Haven Elementary School is owned by Harrison Twp., and the district said they plan to work on those areas as well.
Hunter said the partnership will make sure the areas around DPS schools are prioritized when the city is clearing the streets.
“We’ve partnered with the city of Dayton to ensure that they’re going to be able to take care of all of the roadway for us, because even if the grounds guys take care of everything, at every school, we still can’t get our buses around,” he said.
The district purchased equipment that can attach to F-250s and salt the roads, and roughly 20 people are authorized to clear snow. The Ohio Department of Transportation is providing salt.
DPS officials said there will be a point at which it is deemed too cold for students to safely be outside and go to school, but that hasn’t yet been determined and will be announced later.
About the Author
