Weather Alerts

SouthWest Metro Emergency Weather Practices:

In the event of inclement weather, SouthWest Metro makes decisions about school closures, early releases, late starts, and E-Learning days independent from partnering districts' decisions.

Parents/Guardians should watch for the following two communications when there is inclement weather:

1.) Parents/Guardians must watch for SouthWest Metro decisions regarding programming.

Notifications will come through email, phone calls and text messages (if opted-in)

2.) Parents/Guardians must also watch resident districts* decisions on inclement weather because it will impact their transportation to SWMetro programming.

Resident districts provide transportation to SWMetro programs.
Resident district late starts, early releases and closures will effect transportation to SWMetro programs.

See below for more information

*A resident school district is the district a student geographically resides in. For example: a student living in Chaska resides in the Eastern Carver County School District.

Notifications

How Will District Families Be Notified?

District Families will receive emergency weather updates based on the contact information provided at enrollment.

Notifications will be sent through the following communication channels:

Phone Call
Email
Text Message (if you've opted in)

Where Can the General Public Check for Updates?

Closure, late-start, or E-Learning updates will be posted publicly on the following district communication channels:

District Homepage
District Facebook Page
District Instagram Account

How to Check or Change Your Preferred Contact Method:

District Families can login to Infinite Campus to check/update the email addresses and phone numbers on file. Additionally, they may reach out to the attendance officer in the student's program for assistance.

Important Notes About Transportation

On inclement weather days when a student's resident district schedule differs from the SouthWest Metro schedule, please follow the guidance below.

When the student's resident school district is closed but the SouthWest Metro program remains open:

Transportation will not be provided. However, parents/guardians may drive their students to their learning site. If parents/guardians decide to keep their student home due to the weather and their resident district is not providing transportation, the student will be excused.

When the students' resident school district declares a late start or early release, but the SouthWest Metro program does not:

Transportation will follow the resident school district's schedule. Parents/guardians may choose to follow the SouthWest Metro schedule and transport their student or send their student on their usual resident district-provided transportation. If students arrive late or depart early from SouthWest Metro programs due to transportation changes, they will be excused from class.
If parents/guardians choose to transport their student to/from school, they must notify the attendance official as soon as possible. For end of day transportation changes, it is important that parents/guardians confirm their request to pick up their student with the attendance official. This ensures students are directed towards the parent/guardian pickup location instead of resident district transportation.