Greetings,
Adverse weather conditions are inevitable in South Dakota so I wanted to share our procedures for late starts, early dismissals, and school cancelations.
First and foremost, we must remind our young drivers to plan ahead and allow more time when traveling to and from school during the winter months. As a parent/guardian, it is your right to keep your child/children home from school if you do not feel it’s safe for them to be traveling. We go to great lengths to avoid putting you in situations like this, but our district covers a large area. Weather conditions can vary greatly from one side of the district to the other. If you do not feel it is safe to allow your child to drive and school is still in session, it will be considered an excused absence. If school remains in session and you feel your child needs to leave to avoid adverse weather conditions, it will also be considered an excused absence.
Road checks begin between 5:00-5:30AM and the School Message regarding a late start or no school will be sent out at approximately 6AM. If you do not receive a notification via phone call or text message, delays and closings will be broadcast on the following media outlets: TV- KELO, KDLT, KSFY, Radio-KOOL (98.3FM), WNAX (570AM), KPLO (94.5FM), KWYR (93.7FM), KGRD (92.3FM), and KMIT (105.9FM). Weather delays will also be published on the district website at www.platte-geddes.k12.sd.us and the school Facebook page.
When school is delayed, the start time will always be 10 AM for all schools. The Geddes bus will leave promptly at 9:15AM. Regardless of a late start or not, the Geddes bus will always leave on time (7:15AM regular leave time). Please, make sure your child/children are on the bus prior to the scheduled leave time. When there’s a late start, there is no class for Half-Day Kindergarten students and no breakfast is served.
In the case of an early dismissal, we will follow the same notification procedures. We will strive to have the Geddes bus arrive approximately thirty minutes after school is dismissed. Depending on the dismissal time, we will also try to serve lunch if possible.
Late starts, early dismissals, and school cancelations are always a difficult decision. We go to great lengths to make the best decision to keep our students and staff safe. As I previously stated, if there’s ever a time when school is in session and you don’t feel it’s safe for your child to be on the roads, it will be considered an excused absence.
As always, thanks for your support and continuing to make the Platte-Geddes School District a great place to learn, work, and grow.
Kind Regards,
Joel Bailey