Delays and Cancellations

Living in Iowa, we know that inclement weather can sometimes make it necessary to delay or cancel school in order to ensure the safety of our students. The district always strives to make decisions affecting the school schedule as soon as possible.

In general, the following timelines will apply when possible:

Any decision to delay will be made by 5:15 a.m. (Cancellation decisions may be made by 5:15 a.m. if conditions warrant)
If there is a delay, the decision to cancel would be made by 7:15 a.m.
If an early release is necessary, the decision would be made by 10 a.m.

Alert notifications will follow any decision, beginning with the website and social media, followed by phone calls and emails. (Phone calls are the slowest official notification method and will be completed as soon the system can process them).

When bad weather strikes, there are a number of ways you can learn about delays and cancellations in the Dubuque Community School District.

Official district sources

To provide you with the most accurate, up-to-date information, we always recommend checking with official district resources first for delay and cancellation information:

District families and staff will receive a phone call and email to the information we have on file, unless you have opted out.
The homepage of our website (www.dbqschools.org) will be updated with delay or cancellation information.
The district Facebook and Twitter accounts will be updated with the latest information.
The district Inclement Weather Hotline, updated and available by calling 563/552-3035.
Not a district family? You can sign up for free alerts from Iowa School Alerts.

Media sources

In addition to the official district sources, the following media sources are notified of delay and cancellation information:

TelegraphHerald.com
Radio Dubuque stations
Townsquare Media (Dubuque) stations
Queen B Radio stations
KCRG-TV (ABC, Channel 9)
KWWL-TV (NBC, Channel 7)
KGAN-TV (CBS, Channel 2)
KFXA-TV (Fox, Channel 28/40)