Reminder: Process for Communicating Inclement Weather Office Closings & Class Cancellations

Winter weather is here this year a bit ahead of schedule, so we are quickly reminded of inclement weather conditions that can cause closures and cancellations. Offices will typically be open unless all schools in a region are closed and travel is not recommended. But we all know that scenario plays out at least a few times each winter, so in preparation for the possibility of office closings and professional development course cancellations, please read below for the process that the Agency uses to communicate about closings, cancellations and delays. 

First, go to section 11:14 of the Staff Handbook to read the Agency’s Inclement Weather policy. 

Remember that the Temporary Remote Workplace Program can be used in extraordinary circumstances with supervisor approval. More information about the program can be found in the Staff Handbook. In an inclement weather circumstance, staff members who complete timesheets have the option of taking unpaid leave, even if they have other leaves available. 

If you have any questions about the Inclement Weather policy, contact Laura Gillon, Executive Director of Human Resources, at lgillon@heartlandaea.org or ext. 14416. 

Communicating Office Closures 
The Agency uses a variety of methods to notify staff members of office closures due to inclement weather.

SchoolReach 
SchoolReach is an online system that sends voice messages to staff. When used, the service will call selected phone numbers in our employee contact list and will deliver a recorded message. The service will deliver the message to both live answer and answering machines. No answers (phones ringing over 40 seconds) and busies will be automatically retried twice in 15-minute intervals after the initial call. 

We will contact only those staff members who are assigned to offices that close. For example, if the Newton and Indianola offices are closed, we will only call the staff members who are assigned to those offices. Staff in other offices won’t receive a call. The calls that SchoolReach makes will be generated by the Agency’s Communications Department—they will not come directly from SchoolReach. 

To ensure that you receive a phone call about office closings, review your phone number information in the Agency’s Employee Online system and make sure it is up-to-date. To access Employee Online, sign in to Employee Dashboard and navigate to the Employee Online tab at the top of the page. If you have provided both a home number and a cell phone number in Employee Online, we will call you at both numbers in the event of an office closing. 

Please Note the Following About SchoolReach 
When SchoolReach places a call, if your phone has caller ID, the ID will display the Agency’s main number, (515) 270-9030. When you get a call from the system, there will be a short pause at the beginning of the message. This usually is only a few seconds pause. Answer your phone as you normally would with “hello” and hold for the message to begin. Multiple “hellos” will delay the message. Please inform all family members who may answer your phone of this process. If you rely on your answering machine to screen calls, the system will detect that your machine has answered and will play the recorded message to your machine. The phone will ring for up to 40 seconds. Make sure that your machine answers after four rings or you may miss the message. At the end of the message you will be prompted to “press any key” to hear the message again. This can be helpful if a child answers the phone and hands it to a parent, who can then have the message repeated in its entirety. 

Website 
We will post closing information on the front page of the Agency’s website (www.heartlandaea.org). 

Cancellation Hotline 
We will record closing information on a “cancellation hotline” that staff members can call into at (515) 270-0405 ext. 14041. When you call in you will hear a recorded message that says the date and which offices are closed if there are closings. If there are no closings, the message will reflect that. 

Social Media 
We will post closing information on the Agency’s Facebook & Twitter accounts (www.facebook.com/heartlandaea & twitter.com/HeartlandAEA). 

Communicating Professional Development Class Cancellations 
If a professional development class is canceled, the cancellation will be communicated via the agency website, cancellation hotline and social media. 

If you have any questions about inclement weather communications, please contact Courtney Croatt, Communications Specialist, at ccroatt@heartlandaea.org or ext. 14474.