WHAT ABOUT SNOW DAYS AND OTHER UNSCHEDULED DAYS?

We understand that center closing days are very difficult for families.  We understand that should closings occur, parents have to: make other child care arrangements (having to locate someone and having to pay twice for the day of care), take time off of work (missing meetings, pay, frowns from the boss, etc.), use vacation time, etc.  OUAT provides a service to the working public and, as such, must be responsible about its closings.  However, there are circumstances in which the center must close or open late for the safety of its staff and in order to meet licensing ratio guidelines.  The following provides guidance on this: 

• Once Upon a Time follows the Verona Area School District (VASD) public school closings for inclement weather due to snow days, ice and other conditions that affect travel and road conditions. 
• OUAT does not follow public school morning delays (i.e., the 2-hour delays).
• OUAT does not follow public school closures due to cold weather only.  In the case of severe cold weather (i.e., a wind chill warning), OUAT may open later in the morning (i.e., 10:00 a.m.) to give things a chance to warm up a little. 
• If Verona Schools are not in session (i.e., winter break), OUAT will make the decision on snow/ice closures and will email all parents and staff and will put a notice on the voice mail by 6:30 a.m.
• If it is necessary for the Center to close mid-day, parents will be notified via email (and by phone, if necessary) and asked to pick up their child(ren) immediately.  In this situation, adequate staff must remain to maintain classroom ratios until all children have been picked up.  

How parents will be notified:

• Please watch and listen to local radio and television stations for notification of school district closures.  If Verona schools are closed due to snow or other travel hazards, OUAT will be closed.
• In the case of a snow/ice closure, OUAT administration will put a notice on the OUAT voice mail and will email all parents and staff, also.  We will try to do this by 6:00/6:30 a.m.
• In the case of a potential OUAT cold weather late start, OUAT administration will put a notice on the OUAT voice mail and will also email all parents and staff before 6:30 a.m. 

The Verona School District is very conscientious and only closes school if the weather creates a dangerous travel situation.  Other than the risks of safe travel for families and staff during these weather emergencies, OUAT must be sure that we have enough staff on site to meet State licensing regulations regarding staff/child ratios.  If we do not have enough staff to cover all the classrooms (because they could not get to work due to snow, cold, etc.), we may have to close a classroom (or the center), contact families and ask that children be picked up.  As always, during cold weather we have an obligation to make sure that children are safe.  If there were a fire, gas leak or other emergency during a cold weather situation, and the children had to evacuate the building, they would do so without coats, mittens, hats, etc. and would be subject to snow, freezing temperatures and potential frost bite.  State licensing rules require us to evacuate the building in 2 minutes.  Those situations will probably never happen, but it is something that needs to be considered as we would hate to have anything like that happen for many reasons.