District 196 Considers Canceling School Monday

Students attending schools in the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan School District may have a three-day weekend.

With extreme cold temperatures again forecast for Monday and Tuesday, the school district is considering canceling classes. If that happens, the district may add days to the end of the school year.

The district will make a decision by Sunday regarding school on Monday.

Superintendent Jane Berenz wrote the following letter to parents, which is also on the district's website.

This message is to inform parents of our plans for making decisions about whether to hold school next Monday and Tuesday, when actual temperatures are currently forecasted to be at or near minus 20-degrees with a wind chill of minus 40-degrees or lower.

We will monitor the forecast this weekend and plan to let families know on Sunday if school is to be canceled on Monday. If school will be canceled, we will communicate the decision via a SchoolConnects call, on local television stations and on the banner of the district website at www.District196.org, as we normally do. These decisions are always communicated quickest on the district website, so check there first for the most current information.

We understand the inconvenience caused for families whenever school is canceled. We want students to be at school learning, whenever we feel we can get them there safely. There are many children who must walk to school or to the bus stop and wait outside until their bus arrives. In the unusually cold temperatures we have been experiencing, buses are more prone to breakdowns and delays, and children with exposed skin can be frostbitten in as little as five to 10 minutes.

We are concerned about the instructional time that our students have lost as a result of these cancelations and are currently looking at options for possibly adding school days. If school days are added, the decision would be communicated to parents well in advance of the added days.