Information about Emergency School Closings/Delays
Schools are closed when the weather makes it impossible to have reasonable attendance or when the schools or vehicles would not be able to operate safely. The school day is delayed when inclement weather conditions improve by early morning. Inclement weather may include snow, ice, and freezing temperatures. If the school day is delayed, buses will run and schools will open two hours later than the usual time.
The district announces school closings and delays in a variety of ways:
- Text messaging – Parents/guardians can receive a text message if schools are closed or delayed by opting in to our text messaging service through SchoolMessenger. To opt in, text Y or Yes to 67587. You will receive a text response confirming that you are registered for texting. For more information on text messaging, click here.
- District website at www.horseheadsdistrict.com
- District Facebook pages (the district and all seven schools have pages)
- Instagram - hhdsschools
- X (formerly known as Twitter) - @HhdsSchools
- Local television and radio stations:
- TV - WENY, WETM, Spectrum Cable News
- Radio – WNKI 106.1, Bigfoot Country 95.1, Wingz 93.1 The Met, Cool 104.9, and Jamz 101.7
- Note: Television and radio stations also put closing/delay information on their websites.
Please do not call the radio/TV stations or the district’s Transportation Office.
Important notes about school closings/delays:
- There may be a time when any of these means of communication do not work due to Internet issues, etc, so we ask that you check more than one of our communication methods to determine if school is in regular session or not for that day.
- If schools are closed, they will remain closed all day for scheduled activities, including remedial programs, extra-curricular activities, use of facilities by non-school groups, and evening programs.
- When school is delayed, there is no supervision for students until schools open two hours later than the usual time, so parents should not drop their children off at school until they open.
- On school delays, there is no breakfast served.
- On school delays, prekindergarten begins at 10:30am.
- If a storm develops after school begins, usual procedure is NOT to close school early. This allows time for highway crews to plow and sand the roads and has proved to be less disruptive and confusing than attempting to send students home early.
Questions? Contact your child's school or email hcsdinfo@horseheadsdistrict.com.