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District Info » Fog Delay Information

Fog Delay Information

It’s Fog Season – Information You Should Know

As the winter season begins and the likelihood of fog increases, the following is an explanation of how a fog delay is determined by the district.

  • Between 5:00 am – 6:00 am dispatcher’s county wide seek information about visibility from various public agencies (i.e. Cal Trans, Highway Patrol, local Police Departments, etc.) as well as bus drivers with early routes.
  • Once the information has been gathered the transportation directors for local districts confer to decide whether or not a fog delay is warranted. A fog delay may not be called if visibility exceeds 500 feet.
  • The Beardsley Transportation Director must make the final decision to call a two hour fog delay for “all schools in the Beardsley School District” by 6:30 am.
  • Once the decision is made, the information is posted on the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Alert Line, enabling the local media to inform parents and students of a fog delay in a timely manner.

In the event there is dense fog, please check the local news stations after 6:30 am.  If they announce that a two hour fog delay has been called for “Beardsley,” all schools in the Beardsley School District will start at 10:00 am.  This means school will remain closed until 9:45 am, 15 minutes prior to the start of the school day.

When dense fog moves into the area after it is too late to notify students/parents and bus routes are already running, bus drivers have been instructed to make the decision whether it is safe to continue the route.  If it is not safe, they are to park their bus in a safe area and wait for the fog to dissipate before continuing their route.

Because the window of opportunity for the district to notify 1,700 students of a fog delay via the media is narrow, it is very important that you, as parents/guardians, understand that you always have the final say as to whether or not it is safe for your student(s) to walk to school, walk to a bus stop or be driven to school in the fog.  If you determine that it is not safe, call the attendance office and excuse your child for the morning. Please plan to have children at school by 10:00am.

Local radio and television stations will carry information about school delays due to inclement weather (fog) by 6:30 a.m. when possible. When a fog delay is in order, school will begin exactly two hours later than the normal starting time. Buses will also run two hours later. You can also look up any fog delays online at http://alertline.kern.org.