The Honeoye Falls-Lima School District promotes safety first in its practices and procedures for school closings. "Our number one concern in all of our decisions is the safety of our children," said Superintendent Diane E. Reed. "I think it’s helpful to share with parents how the decision-making process for school closings works."

The District is highly concerned about the impact of school closings on the educational process. We also realize that any deviation from the routine can be upsetting to households where childcare is a concern. Therefore, we try to balance the learning and safety needs of our students, while remaining mindful of the childcare concerns of parents.

Since our District stretches across three counties, nine towns and 72 square miles of roads, our buses are the lifeline of the District. The ability of the buses to transport students safely is the determining factor.

We begin monitoring the weather as soon as storms are predicted. Occasionally, when the temperature is extremely low or snow and ice are already present, we can make a decision on closing in the late evenings. Storms that are predicted often do not materialize as expected and consequently, decisions are most often made in the mornings. We begin the process about 5:00 a.m. with the Director of Transportation and the Director of Buildings and Grounds reporting weather and safety concerns to the Superintendent’s Office. Decisions are typically made by 6:00 a.m., since our buses must begin their routes no later than 7:00 a.m. We may decide to keep schools open, close schools for the day, or delay the opening of school for the day. A delay of an hour and a half is a compromise if it appears that it will allow for safe transportation. Unfortunately, storms sometimes change in character as the day progresses and that may dictate a decision to close schools early while roads are still open to transport children safely home.

If school must close or be delayed, the District will communicate the decision over the local radio stations. WHAM-1180 is the official station for announcements of HF-L closings. In addition, the District Information Hotline (624-7152) and District website (www.hflcsd.org) will host this information.

If an early dismissal results in a child going home to an empty house, our bus drivers have instructions to return the child to the Manor School. We will then attempt to reach parents at the emergency telephone numbers on file in the District to notify them where to pick up their children.

If parents believe that individual circumstances make it unsafe for their children to attend school when school is open on a day with severe weather, the parents should use their best judgment about keeping children at home. We are unable to monitor every situation within the District, but make judgments for the most common circumstances.

While we do use snow days extensively in some years, other years we are able to get through the winter with no closings. Parents should prepare their children for emergency school closings by developing a plan in the event they are not at home.