Emergency Info

PROCEDURES FOR EMERGENCY SCHEDULE CHANGES

In the event of a school delay, cancellation or emergency, families will be contacted by phone, text and/or email using our mass notification system, ParentSquare. Please ensure that your contact information is up-to-date in Skyward to receive notifications.

School delays and cancellations will be sent to families via ParentSquare email, texts, and app not District and school websites, on the  District’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn accounts, and on local television and radio stations. 

THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS MAY BE USED FOR EMERGENCY CONDITIONS:

MERCER ISLAND SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED

• All schools will be closed for the day.  All programs, building use and after-school activities, etc. will be canceled for the day. No Off-Island Transportation.
   

MERCER ISLAND SCHOOLS OPEN - 2 HOURS LATE

• All schools, including all-day preschool, open two hours late. AM music and language programs are canceled. AM preschool and AM Innovation Learning is canceled.
• All after school activities will remain as scheduled. Should these activities be subsequently canceled, notification will be made by school officials.
   

UNPLANNED EMERGENCY DISMISSAL:

In the event schools must be closed early due to unplanned emergencies, students who ride buses will not be transported home. Early closures will be announced on the district website, and via email, text, and app notification by the ParentSquare notification system.

Middle school and elementary students. Students will remain under the supervision of school staff until parents or guardians can pick them up. Standard student checkout procedures will be followed.

MIHS students. Students may remain at the school and it will stay open until student departures are safely completed.

• If someone other than the parent will be picking up the child, parents 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 conditions during bus runs
If conditions become too hazardous to continue on regular bus runs while students are on board, elementary and middle school drivers will proceed to the nearest school or school of origin if possible. If conditions prohibit safely transporting students to a school, they will remain on board with the driver until conditions improve or until a parent or parent designee is able to retrieve them. The transportation office will continually monitor the status of all buses.

The Mercer Island School District Hazard Mitigation Plan covers each of the major natural hazards that pose significant threats to the District. This plan will qualify the district for federal funding in the event of a major earthquake or other disaster and will assist in educating the community to be prepared for such an event.

The mission statement of the Mercer Island School District Hazard Mitigation Plan is to proactively facilitate and support district-wide policies, practices, and programs that make the Mercer Island School District more disaster resistant and disaster resilient. 

Hazard Mitigation Plan (pdf) 

This PDF has resources for families in times of crisis.