Cancellation Procedures
When bad weather or other emergencies situations occur, it may be necessary for Prince William County Public Schools (PWCS) to modify normal operations by canceling school, delaying opening, closing schools early, or moving to virtual/remote learning,
Key things to remember
The safety of our students and staff is our number one priority when making decisions.
PWCS reviews information from emergency management, meteorologists, and state highway administrators about road conditions, and school personnel also inspect the conditions of roads throughout the county, sidewalks, parking lots, and bus lanes. Decisions are made based on countywide conditions and weather forecasts to ensure the safety of all students, staff, and residents across more than 350 square miles, with significant elevation changes. This means closings may occur when conditions might not seem particularly bad in your immediate area. Please get to know the hazardous conditions codes we use in PWCS when changing operations due to weather.
Decisions are communicated as rapidly as possible.
PWCS tries to make decisions on delays and closings as many hours in advance as possible, in consideration of families who need time to make proper arrangements. In most cases, the decision will be made the night before; or in uncertain conditions, not later than 4:30 a.m. on the morning of closing. Once weather-related decisions are made, weather communications will then follow as rapidly as possible.
You Make the Ultimate Decision.
As parents and guardians, if you feel conditions are unsafe and school is open, you have the option of not sending your student to school. If you elect to not send your students on a day when school is in session, they will receive an excused absence if the absence has been reported by their parent/guardian. Please report the absence to your student's school and the reason for the absence. Students will not be penalized academically but are expected to make up all assignments.
Have a Well-Communicated Plan in Place.
In the event of early closing, which PWCS tries to avoid, students need to know where to go or what to do if a parent/guardian is not home. Please ensure your contact information is updated in ParentVUE as schools rely on this information to ensure your student's safety. Do not bring students to school on Code Red or Code Orange days as staff will not be in the building.
PWCS provides information about closings and delays in many ways including:
- Email and text messages sent to parents/guardians (using the contact information provided in ParentVUE)
- Alerts on the PWCS homepage and each school website
- PWCS-TV (channel 18 on Comcast and channel 36 on Fios)
- PWCS Facebook
- Area radio and television stations
