Inclement Weather - North Kansas City School District

Inclement Weather Procedures

NKC Schools’ goal, as always, is to ensure the safety of all during inclement weather events while minimizing disruption to students’ learning. If weather conditions or other unexpected, short-term events make it unsafe for students to attend in person, the district has several options: school may start two hours late, students may be released early, students may learn virtually, or in-person classes may be canceled entirely due to inclement weather.

Weather Plans Chart

Announcement: Make-Up Days Scheduled

What a winter we’ve had in Kansas City! This year’s snow and ice led to an unusually high number of inclement weather days, and we appreciate your flexibility. To meet state guidelines, we need to make up five school days (due to closures on February 12, 18, 19 and 20, and March 5). Pending final approval by the Board of Education next Tuesday, we will now be in session on the following dates:

Friday, March 21 – full day
Friday, April 18 – full day
Tuesday, May 27 – full day
Wednesday, May 28 – full day
Thursday, May 29 – half day and last day of school

In addition, Friday, May 23, originally scheduled as our last day of school and a half day, will now be a full day.

March 21 and April 18 were previously scheduled as staff professional development days, while May 27, 28 and 29 were noted on our academic calendar as potential make-up days.

These make-up days will follow a normal schedule, with regular instruction and attendance expectations. This decision was made in collaboration with our Collaborative Team for Teacher Negotiations (CTTN) and informed by feedback from students, families, and staff.

Note: There is a possibility the state may decide to forgive one or more of these days due to winter weather impacts across Missouri. If that happens, we will send additional communication.

How to Find Information

In the case of a change to normal school operation due to inclement weather, families will be notified in several ways:

District Website: www.nkcschools.org provides the first notification of school closings and other cancellations.

Email, Phone Call & Text Message: Phone, email and optional text messages are sent to school families and employees when classes are canceled, delayed or students are released early. To opt-in to receive text messages as a district parent or staff member, text “YES” to 67587.

Note: Standard message and data rates may apply. Text "STOP" at any time to opt out. The SchoolMessenger privacy policy is available here.

Social Media: Information will be posted on the district’s Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.

Radio & TV: Local stations share announcements on air and on their websites.

If school is operating as usual, no communication will be sent. If you have not heard from the district otherwise, plan for school to be OPEN and in session.

Track Bus Locations & Arrival Times

NKC Schools' Transportation Department utilizes the VersaTrans MyStop bus tracking app. The free app available for Android and Apple devices allows parents to track their student's bus location and arrival time. It also allows parents to receive notifications of any delays. The app is updated automatically in (almost) real-time with GPS information about the current location of the bus, as well as the scheduled arrival time automatically updated to reflect any delays encountered. Learn more about the MyStop app here.

Alternate Bus Stops & Routes

Alternate bus stops and routes may be used during inclement weather. Parents of students at these bus stops are notified well in advance of the potential for their bus stop to change when weather is bad. Alternate snow stops are updated weekly and sometimes daily during periods of snow and ice.

We have used twelve inclement weather days during the 2024-2025 school year. Five days will be made up on March 21, April 18, May 27, May 28, and May 29.

2024-2025 Weather Plans

Traditional Snow Days (1, 7, 9+)

The first inclement weather day will be a traditional “snow day" with no in-person or virtual classes. It is our hope that our students, families and staff will use this day to rest, relax and recharge!

There is not an expectation that students nor teachers log in on snow days.
Optional enrichment activities will be accessible online should your family wish to continue learning from home.
Staff will follow existing expectations for reporting to work on snow days.
There is no in-person Early Education programming on inclement weather days, including tuition programming.
These days may be required to be made up. Potential make-up days are included at the end of the school year in May as the calendar denotes.
Adventure Club will continue to operate on all inclement weather days at their snow day/full day sites. Hours of operation will be 7:15 a.m. to 6 p.m.
In the event that school is canceled for a full day, evening activities and classes will be canceled, as well. Any exception to this will be posted on the district website.

If we need to use more than six inclement weather days, we will once again begin using "traditional" snow days. This would start with our seventh day. These days would be required to be made up, using the days outlined on our calendar for this purpose.

Virtual Learning Days (2-6 & 8)

Beginning with the second snow day through the sixth, then the eighth, if needed, we will implement virtual learning days.

All students will be expected to log in and participate at scheduled class times. Both elementary and secondary students should log in to Canvas to view communication from teachers and complete assignments for the day. Please ensure that your student logs in and completes all assignments on these days.
Schedules may be different for each school. More details and specific class times will be shared by each school building with their families if we need to shift to virtual learning.
Preschool teachers will communicate their virtual schedule with families through email and/or Seesaw.
Teachers will work with students to prepare for the possibility of inclement weather days, ensuring they have access and can utilize Canvas from home.
During classes, students will engage in short, live lessons via video with their teachers through Canvas conferences and/or Microsoft Teams. After each lesson, students will have independent work time.
Teachers will be available during scheduled class time so students can ask questions and/or check in.
Adventure Club will be open at snow day sites from 7:15 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Students should bring their iPad, charger, and earbuds/headphones to participate in virtual learning.
Teachers will work from home to support student learning. All other staff will follow existing expectations for reporting to work or working from home on virtual learning days.
We can utilize up to five virtual learning days per state requirements.
These days would not be required to be made up by students.

Two-Hour Delayed Start

A two-hour delayed start will be used for days when daylight and additional time to treat roads mean safe passage is possible for students.

In this case, the school day will begin two hours later at each building throughout the district. All schools will end their day at the regular end time. A full list of two-hour delayed start times is available here (see the 2-Hour Delayed Start column).
In the event of a delayed start, Early Childhood Special Education, Peers and Center-based Pre-K classes will be canceled for the entire day.
On a two-hour delayed start day, all buses will pick up students two hours later than the regular pickup times, but the drop-off times will NOT change.
Alternate stops for buses will be in effect. Transportation will communicate directly with all families affected by alternate stops.
Adventure Club will operate at all schools from 6:45 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Late start days are considered full school days and are not required to be made up.

Early Release

When School Is Open

Dress your child to protect against wind and cold.
Buses may be a few minutes late. Please wait as we safely run every route.
Alternate bus stops may be in effect due to road conditions. Bus riders on alternate routes are notified directly by the Transportation Department via SchoolMessenger.
We respect your decision to keep your child home when the weather is questionable. This would count as an absence from school.

Note: Elementary swim screening field trips will be rescheduled when the temperature is lower than 15° F.