Decisions regarding emergency closings will utilize as much information as possible, including the National Weather Service; state, county and city transportation officials; and snow removal contractors.  

Once the conditions have been evaluated and opinions reviewed, the Superintendent will make the decision to remain open or implement one of the closing procedures.

Minnetonka has a few options to use to keep our students educated when weather creates challenges.

• Operate as close to normal as possible
• Delay the start of the school day
• Have an early release
• Close for the entire day.

Knowing that our youngest learners require supervision when they arrive home, early release options will always be carefully considered.

If there are weather-related closures due to a significant snowfall or cold weather, the first day will be a traditional “snow day” with no instruction for all students. If there is an additional day following the first closure, elementary students will likely have an additional snow day and secondary students (grades 6-12+) will have an asynchronous instruction day. On such a day, teachers will post lessons by 9:00 a.m.

If there are additional inclement weather days beyond the first two, starting with the third day, teachers at all levels will provide asynchronous or synchronous instruction. The format and schedule for the instructional model for these days will be determined by considering multiple factors and will be communicated with all instructional staff in advance.

The District may conclude that we can safely transport students to and from school and keep school open, but an individual parent may disagree with our decision.  Under such conditions, parents must exercise their judgment regarding the attendance of their child(ren). The District will respect all reasonable decisions to keep students home in these circumstances.

The District’s mass-communications system enables us to communicate directly with every family in the District through email and phone virtually simultaneously about our decisions regarding evolving weather conditions or other emergencies.  The system is very effective, but we need your help in maintaining accurate contact information if you wish to receive a text message in the event of a school closing or emergency.

PARENTS/GUARDIANS- TO RECEIVE DISTRICT TEXT MESSAGES IN AN EMERGENCY
On the District website, go to MY SSO, then Skyward, then Family Access, and then click on the My Account link (at the top, near your name) to update your contact information.

To receive text messages in the event of a school closing, delay or emergency, click Cell from the drop-down menu for the third phone number and then enter your cell phone number in that field.  Then click "Save".  And, then, from your cell phone, text Y or Yes to 67587, which is our School Messenger short code. By doing so, you are authorizing permission to receive emergency text messages from the District.

EMPLOYEES- TO RECEIVE DISTRICT TEXT MESSAGES IN AN EMERGENCY
Please make sure the phone numbers listed for you in Skyward are accurate and current. On the District website, go to MY SSO, then Skyward, then Employee Information, and then Personal Information to update your contact information.

To receive text messages in the event of a school closing, delay or emergency, click on "Request Changes" and then add a cell phone number in the third phone field on the Personal Information page and click "Save". And, then, from your cell phone, text Y or Yes to 67587, which is our School Messenger short code. By doing so, you are authorizing permission to receive emergency text messages from the District.

The District will continue to use media messages to complement the phone calls, emails and texts.

Radio station WCCO-AM and television channels WCCO-TV, KSTP-TV, FOX9-TV, and KARE 11-TV will run our announcements. We will also post information on the District’s website.

It is always wise to verify a school closure by checking the District’s website.

Every effort will be made to keep our Explorers childcare options available for families that already use Explorers. Parents using this program may receive additional information directly from the Explorers staff. 

• For full day closures, Explorers will be open at Deephaven Elementary to accommodate K-5 students whose parents already take advantage of Explorers for their student(s). The Minnetonka Community Education Center will be open for Junior Explorers students. 
• For late starts or early releases, parents will use their regular locations for Explorers.  

These programs will be canceled when school is closed.  Late starts would cancel morning programming.  Early releases may cancel afternoon and evening programming. 

The general guideline is that unsafe conditions for students and staff to get to and from school are also unsafe conditions for afternoon and evening activities. An exception may be made when there is a significant difference between weather in the morning and weather in the afternoon and/or evening.