Emergency School Closures
Occasionally, a situation may arise that will require you to close your program unexpectedly. This could include floods, power outages, inclement weather, or situations due to natural disasters such as wildfires, earthquakes, tornadoes, or hurricanes.
You can use your local school district as a guide in many cases, and opt to close if they close. Alternately, you can decide not to follow the district and make your own decisions about closures. A sample closure policy is included below; feel free to add to your Parent Handbook.
If a closure is deemed necessary you will want to notify your families via email (ask them to confirm they have received the message) or phone.
Things to Keep in Mind:
- Because you do not need to commute to your job (a bonus of running a program from your home!), you may be able to stay open in some cases when other programs are closed. Parents will love you for this. In these cases, it would be up to the parents to determine if they are able to safely bring their child to your care
- Try to keep in mind how a closure will affect the parents and children. Is there a weather event occurring where many parents' jobs will also be closing, which would minimize the impact of an unexpected closure date?
- Will children be in danger by attending if you stay open? In the situation of flooding or large storms are occurring and trees are coming down, you may determine that it's safer for everyone to stay home. In the situation of recent wildfires in Northern California, air quality is poor but people are considered generally safe by staying indoors. In a case like this, you may want to follow your local school district's lead as they will have up to date information on any developing situations and will act accordingly.
Sample Policy:
During the school year there is always the possibility that heavy rains and flooding, electrical failure or another emergency may force us to close our program for an entire day or part of a day. We will align our emergency school closures with [School District Name] whenever possible, and as soon as a closure has been determined, we will notify you via email and/or phone. In cases where we need to close the school during the school day it is imperative that you provide us with two emergency contacts on your Emergency Information form. We do not refund tuition for emergency closure days and we cannot trade days.
Tuition Refunds during Emergency Closures:
Here is what your parent handbook already says regarding closures:
I/We understand that monthly tuition (any non subsidy payment) is due on the 17th day of the previous month. Tuition is due each month with no deductions for any absences, holidays, illness, or closures due to inclement weather, power outages, or other situations beyond our control. Tuition is due regardless of a child’s absence from the program for any reason, and is required to hold a child’s space.
Reach out to us at hello@wonderschool.com for help in determining when a closure may be appropriate for a specific situation.
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