Superintendent

Message from the Superintendent

December 20, 2024

Heading into Winter Break 2024

Please view my message here if you need translation services.

December 20, 2024

GLPS Families,

As we wrap up this snowy Friday before the two week winter break, I have a few updates for you:

I received a few questions today about why we did not call a snow day, given the snow and road conditions this morning. It is a fair question, and I always explain why I call one when I do, so I want to give you an explanation about why I did not call one today. As I have mentioned, our team is out on the roads between 4:00 am and 5:00 am in order to make a decision by 5:15 am, at the latest. This morning, during that window, we had a couple of inches of snow on the ground, and the patches that were icy last night had been salted for the most part. The main roads had been plowed, and the lack of a wind with this storm meant there was no blowing or drifting on the back roads. Given the relatively warm temperatures, lack of wind, predicted remaining snowfall, and heavy presence of plows that we passed on the road, we anticipated that things would improve over the couple of hours leading to peak drive times. In fact, no districts in Eaton or Ingham Counties closed today. Well, instead of slowing down between 5 and 7am, the snow picked up, and we ended up with much more than was predicted, which made the commute slipperier than expected. As I have said before, we make the best decision possible in the timeframe that we have, and our focus is always on safety. However, the reality is that sometimes the weather does not cooperate, and we end up with a day like today. So, with that said, I appreciate your grace, patience, and care as you brought your students to school today or sent them on the bus. Thankfully, the roads are much better for the afternoon rides home. I have no doubt that we will have more winter weather after break, so we will continue to do the best we can to make the right call. You can always count on me to communicate the rationale for those calls as well, because transparency is an important part of my role as the leader of the district.

As you are now all aware, we had some flooding at Wacousta last weekend, causing the school to be closed for the week while professionals addressed the issues and cleaned up the mess. We are confident that the school will be ready to go when students return on January 7th, thanks to the hard work of our various partners who are on site and completing the work. We greatly appreciate those who donated books to replenish those lost in one of our classrooms, and we appreciate the flexibility of our Wacousta families who had to manage an extra week without school. We also appreciate the Wacousta and district staff who attended yesterday’s item pick up and food delivery or impromptu choir performance at Sawdon.

Heading into our two week winter break, I just want to take this opportunity to say that I hope you all find peace and joy this time of year, and I wish you and your families the happiest of holidays for those who celebrate. Regardless of your beliefs and celebrations, this break is a time to reflect on the year that has passed, look forward to the year ahead, and find time to connect with families and friends. I hope you all are able to do just that in the coming weeks!

That is all I have for this week. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to work with you and your students everyday, and I am thankful that I get to be a part of the wonderful team of professionals here at GLPS.

I will see you all in 2025; as always, I am #proudtobeacomet!