Back to School Info 2/17/10 from Ken Ulman, Howard County Executive

February 16, 2010

Dear Neighbors and HCPSS families,

We are pleased to confirm that schools will reopen on Wednesday, February 17. We plan to have a two-hour delayed opening tomorrow in order to avoid rush hour traffic and therefore make things more manageable.

We want to thank those of you who have shoveled sidewalks and cleared bus stops. Your contribution to the safety of our students is greatly appreciated, and your continued support is needed even though schools will open tomorrow. We ask parents and neighbors to form safety patrols to provide adult supervision for children who must walk to school or wait for school buses in areas where sidewalks and bus stops have not yet been cleared.

In addition to all you have done, we are taking the following steps to ensure a safe reopening of schools tomorrow:

* Police officers will be assisting with traffic flow at each of our 12 high schools when schools open tomorrow.

* Crews from the Columbia Association and the Department of Recreation and Parks are working to clear main paths used by students to walk to school.

You can contribute to a smooth opening tomorrow by following these suggestions:

* Parents who are driving their children to school cannot park in drop-off areas to run into the school.

* High school students are asked to ride their assigned buses rather than driving, if at all possible, because parking spaces will be limited. Parents are asked to remind inexperienced high school drivers about safe driving practices in winter weather and/or to strongly recommend that their high school student take the bus.

* Everyone is reminded to carpool if possible.

The conditions we are currently experiencing are likely to continue for some time, therefore we ask that you continue to use extreme caution and drive slowly when out on the roads, especially at intersections where views may be obstructed by snow piles. This is even more important now that our schools are open again.

Thank you for your patience and your understanding as we work to address the numerous issues associated with this record snowfall.

Warmly,
Ken Ulman
County Executive

Sydney L. Cousin
Superintendent of Schools


Posted by the HCPSS Public Information Office