Skip To Main Content

Logo Image

Logo Title

School Closure, Late Start, Early Dismissal

In the event of a school delay or cancelation, families and staff will be contacted by email, text message, and phone call using our mass notification system, ParentSquare. Please ensure that your contact information is up to date at your student’s school.

You may find school delay/cancelation announcements on local television and radio stations, on our website, or on our Facebook and Instagram pages.

You may also sign up for email alerts through the FlashAlert system, which is what school districts use to notify local news media.

Two Options May be Used for District-Wide Emergency Conditions:

1. Shoreline Schools are closed

  • All schools will be closed for the day. 
  • All school meetings, field trips, after-school activities, etc. will be canceled for the day.

2. Shoreline Schools are open and starting two (2) hours late

Note that buses may operate on regular routes or snow routes on late-start days. Communication will indicate if they are using snow routes.

General Schedule

  • K-12 classes will begin 2 hours late.
  • All zero-period secondary (middle school and high school) classes will be canceled.

Transportation

  • There will be no out-of-district transportation.
  • AM pickup times for bus routes will be two hours later than on a typical school day.
  • There is no transportation for Shorecrest and Shorewood shared classes.
  • District-provided transportation for the Transition Program is canceled when there is a delayed start.

Edwin Pratt Early Learning Center

  • All AM classes are canceled.
  • Full-day classes will all begin at 11:00 am.
  • All PM classes will be on a normal schedule.
  • Lunch and snack are served at their usual times (no breakfast).

Transition Program

  • The District's Transition Program is canceled if there is a two-hour delay.

Home Education Exchange

  • The Home Education Exchange (HEE) will be closed or start two hours late, as dictated by the school district.
  • Information specific to HEE class schedules will be sent to families with students enrolled at the HEE directly by the school's staff. 

Before- and After-School Care

  • Families enrolled in the YMCA BASE program should contact the YMCA directly for their procedures when schools start late, are closed, or close early.

K-12 Breakfast and Lunch

K-5 Schools
  • Breakfast is canceled.
  • Lunch will be served at the normal time.
Middle Schools
  • On full school days: breakfast is served 10:10–10:40 am.
  • On early release days: breakfast is canceled.
  • Lunch periods on full school days: 11:57 am–12:27 pm, 12:38–1:08 pm, and 1:19–1:49 pm.
  • Lunch periods on early release days: 11:15–11:45 am, 11:45 am–12:15 pm, and 12:15–12:45 pm.
High Schools
  • Breakfast is served 30 minutes before the start of the school day on all 2-hour late start days: 9:20–9:50 am.
  • On early release and half "A" days, there is no breakfast available during advisory period.
  • On full school "E" days, lunch will be served 12:45–1:10 pm.
  • On early release and half days, lunch will be served 12:00–12:25 pm.
two hour delay school meals at a glance

Snow Routes

Snow routes are designed each school year to avoid areas where hazardous road conditions exist.

When snow routes are in effect, they will be used on both the morning and afternoon routes even if roads have cleared.  There may be occasions when schools start at the regular times but buses will operate on snow routes.

2026-27 school year snow routes will be provided when available.

 

Emergency Dismissal

If it becomes necessary to close a school during the school day and send students home early, our mass notification system will be used to contact families by phone and/or email. A message will also be placed on the District homepage and social media accounts. Because a parent/guardian may not be at home if there is an emergency dismissal, they must make plans for an alternate place (neighbor/relative) for their child to go. Families should keep their emergency contacts up-to-date and discuss this alternate plan with their children so they know what to do in case of an emergency closure of schools. There will be no district-operated after-school daycare.

If someone other than the parent/guardian on record will pick up the child, families should have already provided the school with the names of the individuals who are authorized to pick up the child. Unless an approved person picks up the child, the child will remain at school until the announced dismissal time.

It may be necessary in some situations to close schools early and hold students at school until a parent (or authorized person) comes to the school to pick them up.  In this case, there will be an announcement that students are being held at school and will not be sent home.

Hazardous Weather Delays on Early Release Wednesdays:

In cases of a hazardous weather delay on a scheduled early release Wednesday, schools will release at their normal early release time.  

Individual School Closures and Delays

At times, one or more schools may be closed due to a building-specific event such as a power outage or burst pipes. The district may choose to hold school at some schools and not others in a case such as this. Each school's families and staff will receive communication about their school's status when an individual school is affected.

School Closure and Delay Alerts

If you wish to receive notifications of Shoreline School District school closures, late starts, and snow routes, you may sign up to receive automatic email notifications using the regional FlashAlert system.