Inclement Weather

• Career & Technology Program will be on an adjusted schedule.
• Specific details may be obtained from the home school.
• A.M. half-day Pre-Kindergarten and A.M.  PREP Programs will be canceled.
• Full day Pre-Kindergarten will follow the Carroll County Public Schools schedule as announced.
• P.M. PREP Program session will be on a regular schedule.

1. Decision must be made by 11:45 a.m.
2. Career and Technology Program will be dismissed one hour early. (See School Times for details.)
3. A.M. half-day Pre-Kindergarten and A.M. PREP Programs still in session will be dismissed at regular time.           
4. P.M. PREP Programs will be canceled.

• Decision must be made by 10:45 a.m.
• Career and Technology Program will be on an adjusted schedule. Specific details may be obtained from the home school. (See School TImes for details.)
• A.M. half-day Pre-Kindergarten and A.M. PREP Programs still in session will be dismissed at 11:00 a.m.
• P.M. PREP Programs will be canceled.

• Decision must be made by 9:45 am
• Career and Technology Program will dismiss at 10:45 a.m.
• A.M. half-day Pre-Kindergarten and A.M. PREP Programs still in session will dismiss at 10:00 a.m.
• P.M. PREP Programs will be canceled.

Allegany County has a separate weather zone that encompasses the Frostburg, George’s Creek area. This part of Allegany County is in the higher elevations and averages more than double the amount of snow than the rest of the county. The Allegany weather zone has a pure feeder system served by one high school, two middle and five elementary schools. All of the students residing within this zone attend one of the five elementary schools. Each of the these elementary schools feeds into one of the two middle schools, and the two middle schools feed directly to the one high school. The Allegany zone is the most frequently used of the four currently existing weather zones in the state of Maryland. Over the past twenty years the Allegheny zone has been closed  fifty percent more than the rest of the county and has been delayed  two hundred and fifty percent more than the rest of the county. In a typical winter, Allegany County will close school 8 days  county wide and close the Allegheny weather zone 12 times, and will delay school county wide 10 days and delay the Allegheny weather zone 25 times. When Allegany closes the weather zone, the Career & Technology students and the regional special education students in the zone do not attend school while students in those programs in the remainder of the County do attend school.  The alternative school for Allegany County is located in the weather zone but draws students from throughout the County. On days when the Alleghany zone is closed and the rest of the County is open, these students do not attend school. When the Alleghany zone is closed and the rest of the County is open, one third of the students in the county remain home while two thirds go to school. Logistical issues exist when the zone is two hours late and the remaining county is on time. Some buses are late and some Special Education buses can not make the time frame and several do not run at all.

Washington County has two weather zones, the Hancock area and the Cascade elementary area. The Cascade zone is made up of one elementary school  and was established due to the severity of the weather conditions in the higher elevations near Camp David. When the Cascade zone is closed, not only do the Cascade elementary students not attend school, but middle and high school students that reside within the Cascade zone do not attend school as well. Special education students living in the Cascade zone do not attend school outside the zone if it is closed. When the Cascade zone is two hours late and the rest of the county is on time there are logistical problems that require four extra buses to be added to ensure that students arrive on time. Washington County Hancock zone is at the Western most part of the county. It includes Hancock High, Hancock Middle and Hancock Elementary schools all within the Hancock High school boundary lines. It is a pure feeder zone in that Hancock Elementary sends one hundred percent to Hancock Middle and Hancock Middle sends one hundred percent to Hancock High School. No other schools are in the Hancock zone. Special education students in the Hancock area attending regional centers outside the Hancock zone do not attend when the zone is closed. Career & Tech students do not attend when the zone is closed. However, when the zone is two hours late and the rest of the county is on time they do go to school two hours late. There are some logistical problems associated a two hour delay. Contractors are expected to traverse the roads in the zone when the area is closed/delayed because most still travel over the rest of the county in order to complete their runs outside the weather zone. The Cascade zone was used only once during the 2009-2010 winter. The Hancock zone historically is only used a couple of times each year.

Frederick County has a weather zone that encompasses Catoctin High and Middletown High in the higher elevations of the Catoctin Mountain range. The schools that are within the boundary lines of those two high schools constitute the weather zone. If the Catoctin zone is closed,  the students attending regional special education, magnet schools and the Career & Technology do not go to school. If the zone is two hours late and the rest of the county goes on time,  the zone goes in two hours late. There are logistical problems to get buses back to the zone area and still get to their other non-zone schools on time. Buses parked in a closed zone are still required to complete their routes in the rest of the county even though they may travel through hazardous roads in the closed zone. The Catoctin zone policy was recently  re-established after not having a distinct weather zone for several years. Frederick County's practice requires dedicated buses for regular education runs for the two zones. Due to the lack of sufficient number of buses available, some special education routes and shuttle routes are not  run when the zone is delayed. Substitute bus drivers and assistants are added if available.

Baltimore County has a weather zone that is contained within the Hereford High School boundary lines. It includes Hereford High, Hereford Middle, Prettyboy Elementary, Fourth District Elementary, Fifth District Elementary, Sparks Elementary and Jacksonville Elementary. When it was established, the Hereford zone was a pure feeder system . However, in 1995  Jacksonville Elementary was redistricted and does not feed one hundred per cent into Hereford Middle and Hereford High Schools. The Hereford zone covers the entire northern part of Baltimore County from south of the Pennsylvania line, to Carroll County to the West, and Harford County to the East. It has seven schools in it out of the one hundred and seventy two schools in Baltimore County. There are one hundred and sixty five schools not in the Hereford zone. When the Hereford zone is closed, like the other zones in the state,  the students residing in the Hereford zone that attend Magnet programs, Career & Tech, Special Education regional programs and Special Education programs out of county do not attend school. Buses being garaged in the zone are required to travel hazardous roads in the closed zone in order to get to schools the buses service that are open. Recently, the Hereford zone was closed for the first time in five years when the rest of the school system went in two hours late.  Historically, the Hereford zone is only called late two or three times per year when the rest of the system is on time and not usually closed. Because the Hereford zone makes up about twenty percent of the size (in area) of the county and is the entire Northern part of the county, and the fact that it is almost a pure feeder system it has been helpful to use the zone because the northern part of the county experiences the worst weather conditions. The existence of the weather zone requires intense planning to make it effective. Like the other zones, logistical problems occur when the zone is two hours late and the rest of the county is on time. It is confusing for Special Education students because some go and some don’t go to school. Some roads are split between the Hereford zone and  the rest of the county. An example of this situation is Paper Mill Road, where students living in the Hereford zone on Paper Mill Road would not attend school if the Hereford zone were closed, while students residing just outside the Hereford zone on Paper Mill Road would attend school if the rest of the county remained open.

The Superintendent of Schools is responsible for making the final decision, based on recommendations from the Transportation Services Department Director and the Assistant Superintendent of Administration.

When the school system is advised by the weather service that storm conditions may exist, three or four Transportation Services Department officials are sent out at 3:00 a.m. to survey the roads. Each section of the county is driven to determine if the roads are, or will be, safe for children traveling on school buses. Transportation Services Department staff is in constant contact with weather stations, county and state government staff, police, and transportation officials in other counties, as well as each other, during the road and weather assessment.

While on the road, the following factors are used to develop the recommendation for closing schools:

• Existing road conditions across the entire county. Remember, even if your street or road looks clear, travel elsewhere in the county may be dangerous.
• Amount of snow and ice that has accumulated, whether it will continue, and the amount of time required for road crews to clear county roadways.
• Air temperature and road temperature.
• Weather predictions – the school system prefers not making a decision based on weather predictions, which are not always accurate; however, weather predictions are considered in combination with existing conditions.
• School parking lots, school sidewalks and school bus loops.
• Other traffic - other traffic can slide into buses or make waiting at bus stops dangerous.
• Will observed conditions likely improve or deteriorate?

The Carroll County Public School System notifies parents and employees through SchoolMessenger phone calls and emails. Parents and employees may also opt to be sent a text message. Announcements are also placed on the school system’s website at www.carrollk12.org and posted on Facebook, Twitter, and CETV Channel 21. In addition, local and regional radio and televisions are contacted. You can find the list of radio and television stations contacted in the CCPS Informational Calendar Handbook.

The decision to delay or close schools must be made no later than 6:00 a.m. in order to notify bus contractors, radio and television stations, send a SchoolMessenger notification and post the decision on the CCPS website, social media, and Channel 21. However, every effort will be made to make the decision as early as possible.

When the decision is made to open schools on time and buses have already begun to pick up students, parents rely on this decision and in many cases leave for work. 

Once students arrive at school and weather conditions worsen, it may be necessary to dismiss students early. In these cases, the school system will give adequate notice to parents using the procedures outlined under "How is the public notified?" A decision to close schools three hours early will be made by 10:00 am, a decision to close two hours early will be made by 11:00 am, and a decision to close one hour early will be made by 12:00 pm.

There may be an announcement made that schools will open 2 hours late with a "re-evaluation." Parents and employees will receive a second communication by 7:30 a.m. notifying them of the final decision on whether schools will open late or close for the day.

Since 2002, all new Carroll County Public School buses have been equipped with automatic tire chains which can be easily activated and de-activated by the driver flipping a switch in the driver’s compartment. Older buses are equipped with manual chains, which all drivers are trained to properly install. In addition, school buses have rear- tandem all-weather tires, anti-lock braking systems and heated mirrors. School buses weigh in excess of 20,000 pounds, making them one of the safest vehicles in inclement weather.

School bus drivers are licensed by the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration with a CDL B with Passenger, School Bus and Air Brake endorsements. All drivers receive extensive in-the-classroom and behind-the-wheel instruction. Drivers are thoroughly trained in inclement weather driving techniques such as reducing the speed of the bus, avoiding sudden stops, activating the strobe light, driving with headlights on, remaining extra vigilant at intersections and proper steering techniques in the event of a skid.

Unlike some counties that do have weather zones, Carroll County’s weather conditions typically do not vary significantly enough to justify creating weather zones. For instance, the conditions in the Hereford (northern Baltimore County) Zone can vary greatly from those in southern Baltimore County. In fact, the conditions in a storm throughout Carroll County typically resemble the conditions in the Hereford Zone of Baltimore County. In Frederick County, the elevations of their mountainous areas tend to make winter weather more severe. The elevations in Carroll County are fairly similar, with the highest elevated areas running from the southwest part of the county in Mt. Airy, northeastward through Westminster and continuing all the way to the far northeastern section of the county. In addition, there are numerous county-wide programs which require students to be transported from all parts of the county to Westminster area schools. Also, the feeder patterns for elementary, middle and high schools in Carroll County do not provide clean, geographical boundaries to permit regional weather zones. For more information, please read the additional information provided on weather zones in this website.

Town roads are cleared by municipalities, county roads are cleared by Carroll County Roads and state roads are cleared by the State Highway Administration.

COUNTY ROADS

• It takes four to six hours to spread salt on all of the roads.
• It takes eight to ten hours to plow the roads once for an average snowstorm.
• There are 63 (trucks) different routes.
• There are 974 miles of roads.

STATE ROADS

• It takes up to four hours to plow once.
• It takes up to four to five hours after snow fall to plow to the pavement.
• There are 23 different trucks used for an average storm. More are available if needed, depending on the storm.
• There are 990 lane-miles of state roads within Carroll County.

The decision to alter the school schedule due to inclement weather is based on road conditions as evaluated and explained in Frequently Asked Questions “How is the decision made?” Students are expected to walk to the designated bus stop with parental supervision.    The responsibility to clear sidewalks and driveways rests with the individual property owner. Please refer to CCPS Board of Administrators Regulation EEAC: Bus Routes and Stops for more information

Students are encouraged to ride the school bus when inclement weather is predicted. The decision to delay, close or dismiss schools early is based primarily on the safety of students riding school buses.

Please discourage student drivers from driving home from school in adverse weather conditions.

It is recommended that students ride the bus to school. Studies show that students are at least 100 times safer riding to and from school on the bus than being transported in personal vehicles. In addition, heavy congestion in the parent drop-off and pick-up areas can complicate traffic patterns in and around schools.

• Parents should park their cars at least 30 feet away from the bus stop to improve visibility and reduce congestion.
• Parents should wait safely with their children at the bus stop to ensure their safety.
• Students should be waiting for the bus as it approaches and should not run to the bus. Running to the bus increases the possibility the child could slip and fall in icy  conditions.
• Parents should make sure students are appropriately dressed for the weather conditions while waiting at the bus stop.