School board "snow days"

[bright sparks]

I'm in Halton, and I was referring to complete school closures, not buses being cancelled and schools still open. When I worked in a centre, all the licensed daycares were closed if the school board was closed, so I wondered if I should put the same policy in place, that I close if the schools are closed. My street is treacherous, due to lack of plowing, sometimes with 2 or more feet of snow high(for days) I know the teachers will be at home. I also find that on bad weather days, my parents are always late-they don't plan to leave early or send an emergency person for pickup, so I'm always stuck with a bunch of late kids-it drives me crazy!

That sounds pretty awful!! The thing with closing is that for those parents who can get to work, they can not go to work if you close. You can't please everyone I know, but by closing when your ability to offer care is not impaired, I'd be pretty frustrated if I was a parent. It could potentially cause financial hardship for a parent which may not be your problem, but in my opinion, you have no reason to close of your own. Whether a parent chooses to come to daycare or not is their choice. Some people will have that choice taken away from them if they are snowed in or have a long commute on dangerous unplowed routes but by closing you are penalizing those who can go to work and need to work. Reinforce your policies for late pick up and on bad weather days verbally and to their face remind them to allow extra time because should they be late, you are still charging regardless of the weather. We live in Canada and should prepare for these things. Fortunately in the last 10 years in Halton, there haven't been even a handful of these situations causing mass closures, but it sounds like your location is a real issue when it comes to road clearing.

Just to add as well, I wouldn't be looking to lose over $200 of income due to a snow day that does not in any shape or form restrict my ability to do my job. It may be thoughtful to a parent's circumstances, but that doesn't pay my bills and is a no brainer to me.