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.

Inclement weather plans for 2024-2025 will be finalized and shared with our community in early October.

Weather Plans Chart

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.

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.

2023-2024 Weather Plans

Traditional Snow Days (1-3)

The first three inclement weather days will be traditional “snow days” with no in-person or virtual classes. It is our hope that our students, families and staff will use these days 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.

** In honor of the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl victory, school was closed on February 14, 2024. This counts as a traditional snow day.

Virtual Learning Days (4-9)

Beginning with the fourth snow day, 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.