Schools deal with lingering snow delays
The worst storm of the season, which dumped feet instead of inches of snow on the region over the weekend and into President’s Day, again today is the cause of school interruptions. A number of local school districts called two-hour delays by Tuesday evening, and at least one, the mountainous Uniontown Area School District, canceled classes completely after two days of no school.
Laurel Highlands School District’s transportation director, Harry Joseph, who also serves as junior high principal, said it’s a tough decision sometimes between a delay and a cancellation. He called for a two-hour delay today but said the final decision can come as late as 5 a.m. on a regularly scheduled school day and as late as 7 a.m. when there is already a delay.
“That’s before all the drivers arrive for work,” he said.
Laurel Highlands, like most local districts, had no school on Monday and Tuesday. The Monday holiday was already set as a make-up day. Students missed three days of school because of weather, but Joseph said he had no count handy on the number of delays.
He said part of the decision includes consulting the supervisors for North Union and South Union townships, saying road crews worked around the clock. He also rode through the district with a representative of the bus contractor and kept in contact with Superintendent Dr. Ronald Sheba. He said the school district’s maintenance people also worked to clear parking lots, driveways and sidewalks in preparation of reopening the schools.
Joseph said parents ultimately make the decision whether to keep their children home.
“Again, this is a tough decision,” he said. “If you don’t feel safe, don’t send your child to school.”
Early reports Tuesday evening for Wednesday also included two-hour delays for Brownsville Area School District and Holy Rosary School in Republic, Carmichaels Area School District, Jefferson-Morgan School District and St. John Evangelist School in Uniontown.
Southeastern Greene School District Superintendent Dr. Philip Savini Jr. made an early call for a two-hour delay today. He said the closings Monday and Tuesday were obvious, but he consulted local road crews on the status of the roads and the district’s bus companies on whether the buses may navigate those roads.
He said an advantage at Southeastern Greene is a later start of classes than other local schools, and a two-hour delay means a 10 a.m. start.
The district has canceled classes four times and called for 13 delays including today’s, something Savini said has an effect on academics.
“That’s 26 hours of delays and four days off. That’s a lot of time,” he said.
The students do not have to make up the time lost to delayed school days, and Savini said the days missed during the state of disaster in Pennsylvania also might be forgiven. However, he remains concerned about class time lost in the months leading up to the April test dates for the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA).
Third-, fifth-, eighth- and 11th-grade students in all of the state’s schools take the tests each year in math and reading. The tests judge schools’ effectiveness and even can affect a school’s funding.
“My question is would the state offer an extension on the PSSA to prepare?” Savini asked.
He said he has tried without success to get an answer to that question.
Connellsville Area School District students should return to school today after a two-day unscheduled vacation.
“The worst-case scenario would be another two-hour delay, but we certainly hope to be running on a regular schedule,” Superintendent Gerald Browell said of the planned Wednesday schedule.
With upwards of 40 inches of snow falling in some areas of the school district through early Monday, Browell said the call to close the schools was easy, but despite a second day for road crews to clear the bus routes, the final decision is based on a number of factors.
“Some of the roads only have one lane cleared, and while that may be all right for vehicles, it isn’t for a bus,” he said. “You also have to think about those students standing out on the roads, waiting for the bus. You don’t want to put them in a dangerous situation.”
Browell said the district will contact area municipalities to determine road conditions.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to get back on schedule,” he said.
California Area School District also might operate as usual in the wake of commendable work by municipal road crews and school district maintenance, said Superintendent Dr. Marian B. Stephens.
California had only a two-hour delay on Tuesday, and Stephens said the attendance by students and teachers was good.
“Conditions are not perfect but fine,” she said. As of Tuesday evening, she had not yet made the call for today.
The district has missed three days for the school year and eight or nine delays, she said. President’s Day and Martin Luther King Day were marked for snow make-up days, but both saw enough snow to cancel classes. Stephens said the make-up day probably will take place during the Easter vacation.
Bethlehem-Center School District Superintendent Dr. Herman Jackson said the school calendar had automatic snow make-up days for Martin Luther King Day, President’s Day, the Thursday before Easter and the Monday after Easter, although the district has missed five days so far, including Martin Luther King Day and President’s Day. “So, we’re looking at adding days at the end of school,” he said.
Jackson said he has yet to calculate the last day of classes and could not say how many days of classes have been delayed.
“Certainly, the number of school closings would compare to the ’93 school year. Since that time, we’ve not had a winter like this,” Jackson said.
He noted that he no longer makes the weather-related decisions, per a school board directive about a month ago that turned the decision over to bus contractor Impiccini School Buses.
Jody Impiccini of the West Brownsville bus contractor said Tuesday evening that he had not yet decided what to do about today, but he relays that decision by about 5 a.m. in time for the early morning radio and television news.
He said the one-lane roads and roads prone to drifting snow were being checked, but snow and ice on those road surfaces that had been treated had melted by Tuesday evening. He said most bus stops also were open, and the buses in rural Beth-Center have many stops at students’ homes.