North County Contingencies

The Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) High School can find this time of year tough to get to school due to the weather. Wind and snow can make it treacherous for busses to pick up students and get them back safely. Many staff members also live in one community and work in another.

The north end of the county has a contingency to keep the students and staff off the roads in the event of severe weather or other emergencies.

If there is a change in the regular schedule, it will be announced on the radio station beginning at 6 a.m. The schools also send out schedule changes by E-Notes. This can be either through texts or e-mail to every family and is posted on the school websites.

If the weather conditions are deemed too severe for roads to be traveled, there are three options.

First, is a two hour delay. All bus and school schedules will start exactly two hours after regularly scheduled times. If this occurs, it usually means that the road conditions are expected to improve, which come from sources such as the Wyoming weather service or WYDOT. Given the changing weather of Wyoming, this gives flexibility for conditions that are not stable.

Also, schools will sometimes have a 1 p.m. release where students are sent home early as the weather appears it will cause travel problems. This occurred on Nov. 25.

All parents of elementary students are called personally by staff of the school as well E-Notes sent out. For high school students, E-notes suffice.

The schools make every effort to have classes before cancelling because all days missed must be made up. Given Carbon County’s opportunities for blizzards and snow hampering travel, students could spend a month making up days missed.

This leads to the second option if weather is too tough to travel between towns, but not so bad in the towns themselves. Although there is no high school in Medicine Bow or Elk Mountain, there are elementary schools. Students and staff that reside in these towns report to that elementary school. Teachers may share work via Google Drive and will have activities for the students throughout the day. This takes the pressure off of students, teachers and staff from putting their travel safety in danger. The kitchens in the two elementary schools where this step might have to be implemented have adequate supplies of food to provide lunch.

“Basically, if you live in Elk Mountain you go to the Elk Mountain school, and we have a lot of students from Elk Mountain,” Jason Greenway, principal for the three elementary schools in northern Carbon County said. “In Medicine Bow, you live in Medicine Bow, you go there so you don’t have to travel the roads and it keeps people safe.”

There are times when the weather or an emergency, like a power outage, requires the schools to shut. Most residents in these northern towns of Carbon County have seen days where the snow is hard to get out of driveways and busses can’t move. On those days, the third option is utilized and school is cancelled, but must be made up.

“Cancelling school is not ideal,” Greenway said. “Combining the two hour delay and attendance schools can work well together so kids don’t miss school. But no matter what we have to do, safety of students and staff is of the utmost importance.”