January 21, 2025, at 8:51 AM
Dear Lockport Township High School District 205 Parents and Guardians,
Good morning. As we start the school day on this cold morning, I wanted to take a moment and give some feedback on how the day has started.
As background, I want to share with you a few of the factors that go into how I made this decision to keep school open and in-person today and report to parents regarding the start of the day today.
Transportation: All of our buses are running, heaters are working, and our buses are ready for service. All of our bus routes were covered and buses were up and running. All but one bus was running slow and having a hard time accelerating and we replaced it with another bus to East Campus. All other bus routes were running on time. Our buses are critical to providing safe, warm transportation for students, and we cannot operate school without them. The first bus arrived at East Campus at 7:13 AM.
Student Arrival & Attendance: Administrators and staff were at both buildings to get any student outside of the building for any reason into the building as soon as possible. Student attendance is lower today due to the weather.
Facility Inspections: We conduct inspections of the heating at our buildings to make sure that our schools are ready for students. Our Facilities Staff report that our buildings are in great shape and operating well.
Local Area Superintendents: Our decision to be in-person was made collaboratively with our feeder schools superintendents and will be communicating with them throughout the day on how their school day has gone as well.
Background Information
I consult carefully with the superintendents of the elementary districts that feed into LTHS D205. We try to stay in alignment with each other. Most of them are open today. We also consult information packets sent out by the National Weather Service (NWS). The NWS sent out a packet on January 17th and did not update it until 3:29 AM this morning. The NWS reported wind chills this morning in the Joliet area at -17 degrees. We typically use a wind chill of -25 to switch to eLearning.
I consult with area superintendents of high school districts. Some schools are in session depending on their own local situations and transportation resources.
We expect our Transportation Department to depart from school today smoothly and safely.
Stay safe and warm.
All the best,
Robert McBride, Ed.D
Superintendent, Lockport Township High School District 205
January 20, 2025, at 12:30 PM
Dear Lockport Township High School District 205 Parents and Guardians,
I hope that you and your family are enjoying the extended MLK Jr. Holiday as there is no school today. As you may be aware, the National Weather Service forecasts bitterly cold temperatures through Tuesday morning with wind chills ranging from -10 to -20 degrees.
Based on the following factors, we have determined our decision for school operations for in-person learning for tomorrow, Tuesday, January 21, 2025.
LTHS Bus Transportation: We have been testing our buses this morning and we feel confident that our buses will be running properly for school operations tomorrow. We focus on the transportation system which the district relies on every school day.
Feeder Schools: We like to stay in alignment with our feeder school districts for consistency among our families.
As we prepare for in-person learning on January 21, 2025, below are a few reminders for you and your student:
Dress Appropriately: We ask that you please encourage all of the students to dress appropriately for the inclement weather, especially if they are going to be waiting outside for the bus in the morning. As we have noticed some students wear hoodies as their outerwear, we do not recommend students to only wear a hoodie under these forecasted weather temperatures.
Transportation: If your student is a bus rider, please be mindful of potential bus delays during forecasted winter weather days that may impact traffic and roads. If your student has a parking permit and drives to school, please encourage them to take sufficient time in the morning to prepare and warm up their vehicle.
Student Walkers: Any students walking to bus stops and/or walking to school and the possibility of getting frostbite.
*Even when students bundle up, we have noticed that frostbite can occur within 10-15 minutes of exposure.
At this point, all Athletic Events and after-school activities will remain on schedule on January 21, 2025. We will provide any changes to athletic events and after-school activities if needed.
Thank you for your time and flexibility as we continue to strive for the best education possible for all LTHS students. For additional information regarding our Emergency/Weather Closing Information & Guidelines, you can visit the LTHS website.
All the best,
Robert McBride, Ed.D
Superintendent, Lockport Township High School District 205