Weather Guidelines

Local superintendents and staff study weather conditions in our districts during the early morning hours to determine if road conditions will allow for reasonable travel by parents and students. Regardless of the decision, we do realize that it may not be the most appropriate for every family.  If you, as the parent or guardian, should decide to keep your child home due to the inclement weather, please contact the staff at your school’s office and make them aware of your decision. Phone numbers may be found on each school’s web page located on the District Website, www.molineschools.org. These absences are considered excused. 

In making the decision to close or keep schools open, or to call for a Winter Weather Remote Learning Day, the District uses the following guidelines:

• On days of anticipated inclement weather, regional Superintendents in the QC convene virtually at 4:30 a.m. to listen to weather service and road condition reports. Please keep in mind, while regional districts strive to make similar decisions regarding school closures, each district ultimately makes the best decision for their unique district circumstances
  • Can the municipal street departments maintain all of the main streets in an acceptable manner?
  • Is the District’s facilities department able to clear walkways, doorways and parking lots sufficiently for pedestrians, cars, and emergency vehicles in a timely manner?
• If possible, school closures will be announced the night before the closure. If this is not possible, every effort will be made to announce the closure by 6:00am, the day of the closure through the following communication tools: 
  • District REMIND text messaging system and/or Class Dojo 
  • School District website: www.molineschools.org
  • Local television news media television

Early dismissal due to inclement weather

As you may know, once children arrive at school, it has been the practice in the Moline-Coal Valley district not to send children home prior to the regular dismissal time, however, rare exceptions may necessitate sending students home before the regular dismissal time. This also would be announced through the communication channels listed above.  

Outdoor weather conditions

If extreme cold winter weather conditions are present during the school day, district administrators refer to the National Weather Service’s Wind Chill factor to determine whether or not school will be in session. 

If the wind chill crosses to a warning, then school will likely be canceled. If the wind chill is predicted to be an advisory, school will be open. 

How Parents Can Help

Please make sure your phone number and contact information is accurate and updated in Skyward to ensure that you will receive these important communications. Be sure to download the Remind app and/or Class Dojo and please make sure that your notifications are turned on. 

FAQ’s

• Why don’t you close when Iowa and surrounding Illinois districts do? 
  • Unlike the Iowa and neighboring rural districts, Moline (and Rock Island) do not have the same issues with busing students on rural highways and more remote areas where high winds and drifting snow can make roads impassable. Moline also benefits from being mostly landlocked with cities to the north, west and east and the fact that the City of Moline continues to do such a good job of clearing the main streets. 
• You’re only keeping schools open because of the money.
  • Funding from the State of Illinois to school districts is based on the average daily attendance (ADA) of the best three months of the school year. Because of the weather, the winter months are seldom used in those calculations. 
• My child will be punished if they don’t come to school on these days.
  • If a parent or guardian calls in to his/her school, that absence is considered excused. 
• Does this mean that schools will always be open regardless of the weather? 
  • No, student safety is our first consideration; and there have been a number of times in the past when school was canceled due to roads that became impassable or as a result of excessively cold, icy or snowy conditions. 
• How cold does it have to be to keep students in for recess? 
  • It is the Moline-Coal Valley District’s policy that if the temperature is 10 degrees or lower (including wind chill), students will be kept indoors.

During the cold weather, please be sure that your child comes to school dressed appropriately for outdoor events. Warm coats, gloves, scarves, hats and boots are a good idea in the winter weather.

MCV will release after 5 hours of instruction for its non-air conditioned buildings.

➢   Early release at 1:30pm, after 5 hours of instruction plus lunch

➢   The school day will not have to be made up

➢   All other air-conditioned schools will remain in session for the full day

Criteria for Early Dismissal of Non-Air Conditioned Schools

●      Heat index (combination of heat + humidity) reaches 98 degrees or above

●      Based upon Child Care Weather Watch reference guide

Action Plan:

●      If heat index reaches 98 degrees, non-A/C schools will be released at 1:30pm.     

     ○      Willard Elementary

     ○      Jefferson Early Childhood Center

●      All other schools will remain in session for the full day.

Communication

●      Notification will be provided by 6:00 a.m. or as soon as possible, via the Parent Notification System Remind, emails, media outlets, and district website.

Staff Members:

●      Staff of non-air conditioned schools will complete the full contract day but are encouraged to move to a cool place within the building to work.

Athletics (After School Hours):

●      If a high risk is present due to excessive heat for athletes, coaches must follow the IHSA guidelines for prevention of heat illness. 

Building Action Plan:

●      Keep shades closed on the side of the building receiving the most sunlight.

●      Keep overhead lights to a minimum when possible.

●      Turn off any electronic equipment not in use.

Maintenance Action Plan:

●      Air exchange units will be left on overnight when temp is over 90 degrees

●      Custodians will leave the second floor windows open during the evening

Revised (11/27/23)