Dear UCCCJSD Family,
I just wanted to take a moment and sincerely thank everyone for your care and concern of our students during yesterday afternoon’s severe weather situation.
Please know, we were monitoring the weather very closely before dismissal. News outlets were reporting that the storm was weakening. Union and Fayette Counties were not under a “warning”, and Franklin County’s warning was set to expire about the time our busses typically leave the main campus. Thus, at dismissal time, we felt it was safe for students to be dismissed.
Unfortunately, only moments after our dismissal, Fayette and Union Counties were moved to the “warning” level by the National Weather Service. This required us to bring all students back inside for “Tornado Warning” protocols. This basically resulted in us holding “bus-riders” and “walkers” until about 4:00 PM. Staff and students across the district responded quickly and appropriately. I couldn’t be more proud of everyone’s team work. Thank you!
I want to also share that during this time it was our effort to send automated notifications to parents and staff. However, our original notifications inadvertently reached only some of our subscribers. I take full responsibility and I apologize for this glitch in information sharing.
In a situation of this nature the safety and well-being of students and staff is the absolute priority. I believe that communication with parents is also very important. Once the “warning” was lifted, I was made aware of the messaging glitch. We then sent a follow-up message around 4:30 PM.
Again, if you did not receive notification until 4:30 P.M. and you felt that was not a timely notification, I take full responsibility and you have my sincerest apology.
Thank you very much for all you continued support!
Christopher Winchell, Superintendent