TEMPLE, Texas — An "arctic blast" is forecasted to hit Central Texas the week of Jan. 15, and many Central Texans are already preparing their homes for the frigid conditions.
Another question some residents are asking is how the winter weather will affect local schools.
6 News spoke to multiple school districts across the Central Texas area to see what kind of precautions they are taking and what their policies are regarding severe winter weather.
While many districts said they will not have a full plan for the week until closer to time, students will have Monday, Jan. 15 off as a federal holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Temple, Waco, Killeen and Copperas Cove Independent School Districts all said they will monitor weather models and conditions ahead of when students return on Tuesday, Jan. 16.
"Currently, we're evaluating all of the weather models as we get closer to the upcoming winter weather blast, but we really work to make a call within a timely manner to be able to communicate properly to employees, families and students," said Taina Northington, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer for Killeen ISD.
As of Jan. 11, neither Killeen, Temple, Waco or Copperas Cove ISDs have made the decision to close any schools. They say this will likely happen on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday when they can monitor conditions directly.
Killeen and Waco ISD told 6 News that they will likely discuss on Monday, Jan. 15 whether or not to close any schools, and Copperas Cove ISD and Temple ISD said a final determination may not be made until Tuesday morning, with TISD saying a decision would be made no later than 6 a.m. after they are able to evaluate weather and road conditions.
Each district agrees the main concern is safety, primarily in students and employees getting to school.
"Our goal is to keep everybody as safe as possible, including on the roadways going to and from school," said Copperas Cove ISD Director of Communication Kurtis Quillin. "That is always going to be the main driver in any decision that we make as a school district is the safety of our students, their families and our staff.
All four districts told 6 News their policy is for school or transportation personnel to check road conditions during severe weather to see if it is safe for buses or drivers to be out on the roads.
"The goal is safety, said Robinson. "We want to stay safe and warm.
The other factor in ensuring it is safe to come to school is ensuring that school buildings themselves are prepared for the cold weather.
"We're similar to all other districts, we check the roads, if there's precipitation, we'll monitor just the temperatures in the building," said Waco ISD Superintendent Dr. Susan Kincannon, "And then we'll consider all of the factors how cold it is. That, you know, whether we can travel on the roads and whether we can keep our buildings warm."
Each district stated they are taking precautions to make sure school facilities will stay functioning properly during the arctic blast, such as protecting pipes and ensuring that heaters and energy are working properly.
"Student safety will be considered the first priority," said the Temple ISD Communications Department in a statement to 6 News. "School is often the safest place for students and staff during severe weather. At school, they are properly supervised and have the opportunity to eat breakfast and/or lunch. In the event of an early dismissal, school officials will make every attempt to feed the students a meal before releasing them."
As administration works to decide plans for schools, districts said communication will be key so that parents and employees can stay up to date on the latest updates and any changes that may occur during the day.
"I would encourage everyone to make sure they know and have verified channels of communication with Killeen ISD," said Robinson "So we send everything out through our mass communication system, but also knowing that they can go to our verified social media accounts and go to our website and make sure they're checking with us prior to just going and hearing rumors from different pages or people who might be saying different things."
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