Site posts school closings

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Dec 28, 1999 by LISA HOFFMAN Scripps Howard News

By LISA HOFFMAN

Scripps Howard News Service

Wake up. See snow and ice on the streets. Flip on the TV and radio. Wait what seems like a millennium for the announcers to say if the schools are closed.

Curse when you miss it because the toast was burning and Johnny couldn't find his socks.

That unpopular winter ritual for parents soon may be a thing of the past, at least for those with access to the Internet, thanks to a new, free service that promises to provide the answer to that crucial question with cyber speed.

AccuWeather, a meteorological forecasting company in State College, Pa., has launched what it has named Cancellations.com as a public service to the nation's 16,000 school districts and legions of harried parents and teachers. The service is free to all.

How it works: School districts register at http:// www.cancellations.com. When they decide to close schools, they simply enter that information on the site. If all works without glitches, the decision is posted immediately and is available by users who simply search the database by ZIP code or city name.

"Five seconds later, you'll know," AccuWeather vice president Jim Candor said. His company hopes to make money off the service by selling advertising to appear on the site.

Parents and others also can ask to be notified directly by e-mail when a cancellation has been posted for their region. That could come in handy when schools are closed in the middle of the day, particularly for parents who work, he said.

So far, several thousand school districts have signed up, with more joining every week as they learn of the service, Candor said.

As word has spread, doctors' and dentists' offices, Little League baseball teams, Kiwanis clubs and other organizations also have begun to use it to announce closings or postponements. Even those who live in snow-free climes are finding it handy for cancellations because of floods or hurricanes, he said.