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Emergency School Cancellation Procedures

There is always a possibility that winter weather conditions will necessitate the closing of some schools and not others within our local area.  

If your child attends, or you work in, a TrueNorth program and the transportation and/or program is canceled:

  • TrueNorth will use an automated telephone messaging system and email messaging to contact you.
  • You can view the TrueNorth website for up-to-date information.
  • You can tune in to or view the websites for WGN 720 AM, WBBM 780 AM, CBS-TV, NBC-TV, ABC-TV, WFLD-TV, and CLTV-Cable for announcement of closings or transportation interruptions.
  • You may also visit www.emergencyclosingcenter.com for school district closing information.
  • Regarding the various locations that the cooperative serves, please note the following Emergency Procedures for TrueNorth Families and Personnel.

The Illinois State Board of Education (“ISBE”) requires school districts to ensure at least 176 student attendance days. Aside from a typical in-person attendance day, State law provides additional options for schools to meet the 176 day requirements. Specifically, districts may utilize e-learning days in lieu of an emergency day, full day institute days, and full-day parent-teacher conference days towards the 176-day attendance requirement. Please note, however, that emergency days without the utilization of e-learning do not count towards the 176-day requirement.  Each year, TrueNorth builds a calendar that guarantees the State requirements are met and students are provided the required student attendance days. 

As part of our planning, in the event of a weather emergency or school closure, TrueNorth included 5 emergency days in the school calendar. Additionally, TrueNorth created and received State approval for its e-learning plan and  has an authorized eLearning plan to implement in the event of a school closure to avoid the use of an emergency day. We understand the inherent challenge to families and staff to be prepared for the use of an eLearning day with short notice, as in the case of a typical weather-related closure. Given the available options, TrueNorth’s value of in-person learning, and ISBE calendar requirements, TrueNorth developed the following plan for weather related school closures:

  1. TrueNorth operated buildings: TrueNorth will plan for closures as they occur and will determine if an emergency day or eLearning day will be utilized. In the event that an emergency day is used prior to March 4th, the planned Institute Day on March 4th will be repurposed as a day of student attendance. The determination of the use of eLearning days vs. emergency days will be balanced by the value for student learning and the need to end the regular school year with sufficient time to prepare for the Extended School Year (ESY). 

  2. Students in a TrueNorth program operated in a host district building or a private preschool, or staff who serve in host sites, will follow the weather-related emergency plan in place for classrooms operated in those host sites. 
    If you have any questions, please reach out to your Program Administrator.