Columbia School District
Closings and Delays
Weather conditions or other circumstances can cause a delayed opening (2 or 3 hours), early dismissal (12:30 pm), a school closure, or a remote day.
Please scroll below to learn how you can find out about closings and delays and also our district procedures regarding transportation on these days. If you have any questions after reviewing the information below, please do not hesitate to call 860-228-8590.
Announcements: Delays, Early Dismissals, and Closings
The Columbia School System offers parents several ways to receive weather-related information for Horace W. Porter School. Depending on the situation, H.W. Porter may choose to remain in school utilizing REMOTE education. Please pay close attention to closing and remote details.
SchoolMessenger (emergency notification system) messages
All parents, including parents of high school students, will receive a SchoolMessenger notification of weather-related messages between 5:30 am and 6:00 am on the day of the weather event. If you do not wish to receive SchoolMessenger weather-related messages, please contact Mrs. Nye, Horace W. Porter School Administrative Assistant, at tnye@hwporter.org or 860-228-9493 x161 (parents cannot opt out of early dismissal messages).
School website
Details will also be posted on the home page of our district website.
Media (television and radio)
School delays/closures for Horace W. Porter School are also announced through the media. When school is delayed, closed early or cancelled, the media outlets below will announce the information for “Columbia.”
WILI (1400 AM, 98.3 FM)
WTIC (1080 AM, 96.5 FM)
WFSB (Channel 3)
NBC (Channel 30)
FOX (Channel 61)
Procedures: Delays, Early Dismissals, and Closings
Horace W. Porter School
When school is dismissed early, delayed, or cancelled for Columbia, the transportation schedule for Horace W. Porter School is adjusted accordingly. Typically, a delayed opening moves the start time for school and the bus pickup time to 2 or 3 hours later.
In the case of an early dismissal due to inclement weather, the end time for the school day is changed from 3:25 pm to 12:30 pm with bus drop-off times adjusted accordingly. This means that if your child typically reaches his/her destination 15 minutes after regular dismissal time, you can expect your child to be dropped off at 1:25 pm on an early dismissal day.
New! Before School Care: There will be no before school care on delayed opening days.
It is important for parents of PK-8 students to have a transportation plan for the above-mentioned possibilities.
High Schools
Our designated high schools and the area magnet schools determine school delays and cancellations independently from Columbia. This is unique to Columbia.
When school is delayed or canceled for Columbia, all high school transportation is also delayed or canceled. For example, on a 2 or 3 hour delayed opening day for Porter School, high school transportation will run 2 or 3 hours later than the regular pick-up time regardless of the start time for the respective high schools. This means that if a high school does not delay the start of classes on a day that Columbia delays school, high school students using bus transportation will arrive late to school.
If a high school has a delayed opening and Porter does not have a delayed opening, there will be morning high school transportation available. Please note buses may be running later than expected with an approximate student pick up time between 8:20 and 8:30 am.
Parents of high school and magnet school students should monitor the media for early dismissal information for their student’s district.
If school is cancelled for Porter, all high school bus transportation is cancelled. We base this decision on the fact that travel on Columbia’s roads has been determined to be hazardous.
It is important for parents of high school students to have a transportation plan for these possibilities