YOUR AD HERE »

Craig Middle School students not granted early entry at -36 degrees

Sasha Nelson
About 30 students were refused early entry to Craig Middle School on Friday morning where temperatures dipped to 36 degrees below zero.
Sasha Nelson

— Temperatures of minus 36 degrees where recorded this morning when roughly 30 Craig Middle School students were left to wait outside of the school on Friday morning.

“My nieces go to that school. I don’t want them to be out there freezing. That’s inexcusable in my opinion,” said John Reno who was responsible for taking the girls to school Friday.

There were over 30 kids outside the middle school this morning, Reno said.



Between 7 and 8 a.m. on Friday morning CMS used a messaging app to tell students and staff the following message:

“Reminder on cold days like today: students will be let in at 7:45 a.m., no earlier, on the West doors. Thanks and be safe.”



The delay in bringing middle school students in from the cold came as a surprise to the superintendent.

“I also heard about that and was surprised,” said Moffat County Superintendent Dave Ulrich who was in the process of investigating the incident Friday morning. “Our first priority is the health and safety of our students and if we have students outside in minus 36 degree weather, we should let them inside.”

While it is unclear if students were made to wait to enter other schools in the district, Ulrich said that elementary schools have a process in place for early admission on cold days.

“Our elementary schools, when it’s cold, they let the kids in,” Ulrich said. “It’s not really a policy, but more an informal process.”

Friday afternoon Superintendent Ulrich emailed the following statement regarding the incident:

“The district’s middle school procedures regarding the beginning of school have been in place for years. Given the particularly cold temperatures, Mr. Grabowski wanted to remind parents of those procedures so students would not be dropped off early and have to wait outside. I encourage any parents who have questions to reach out to Mr. Grabowski directly. I am confident he will address any concerns in a timely and effective manner.”

Principal Grabowski can be reached by calling 970-826-6460

Contact Sasha Nelson at 970-875-1794 or snelson@CraigDailyPress.com or follow her on Twitter @CDP_Education.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Craig and Moffat County make the Craig Press’ work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.