WACO, Texas (KXXV) — Do you know how decisions are made to keep schools open when cold weather hits Central Texas? Rapoport Academy walks KXXV through the process to make sure students are in a safe learning environment.
- Rapoport Academy has 900 students enrolled in PreK-12th grade
- The district only buses students to college classes or athletic events
- Alexis Neumann with Rapoport Academy explains the decision-making process when deciding whether or not to open the school when cold weather hits.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
It’s no secret that Rapoport Academy Superintendent Alexis Neumann loves the cold snap that’s hit Central Texas.
“I love the snow. I love the cold—I love everything about it,” Neumann said.
But many of us have different opinions, significantly when this weather disrupts our everyday lives, like deciding if school can be opened.
“Decisions about delays or closing campus are more than just the roads being icy; it’s whether we can hold school, operate, or have staff to get here,” Neumann said.
At Rapoport, as in other local school districts, staff works to make sure everything is running correctly on campus during times of severe weather.
With 900 students enrolled, Superintendent Neumann tells me it’s a domino effect.
“Are we going to have to turn off water fixtures? One of our campuses has an RPC, it’s an outdoor piece of equipment that is exposed to the elements, and when it gets to zero or around zero, it could freeze, which shuts down its water to the whole campus, so it’s not just about the road quality, it’s also about the preparation and the utilization of the buildings,” said Neumann.
The district only buses students to college classes or athletics events, making it challenging when extreme cold weather hits.
“You have to look at where all the buses will go," Neumann said. "Are they on curvy roads, dirt roads, paved roads, chip-sealed roads, and all the weather conditions matter depending on the road's surface? A lot of times, with large transportation and bus routes, you’ll either have to pull them in or delay those. Well, we get to staffing issues, so if our staff can’t get to campus, we can’t supervise the students."
