Snow days, delays a part of life in central Pennsylvania

The day can begin as early as 3:30 a.m. for area school district administrators when it comes to determining a snow day.

Bellefonte Area Superintendent Cheryl Potteiger said she’s likely on the phone with other Centre County school district administrators, local weather forecasters and people who help run municipalities.

If there’s fresh snow on the ground — or a chance of severe weather — administration will likely call it a snow day. If road maintenance management indicate they can clear the roads through the morning, then there might just be a two-hour school delay.

Snow days are school days that are canceled for weather-related purposes, generally during winter, or months when it snows.

Local schools can be canceled for as little as a dusting of snow; or threat of snow, ice or unusually cold temperatures that could affect driver and pedestrian safety.

National Weather Service at State College meteorologist John LaCorte said statistics from 30-year annual snowfall totals indicate State College averages 45.6 inches of snow per year, while Philipsburg averages 50.5 inches of snow annually. Areas in the northern part of Centre County get about 30.3 inches, while the Lower Bald Eagle and Nittany valleys average 28.4 inches of snow per year. There were no snow statistics for Penns Valley, LaCorte said.

By 5:30 a.m., emails and automated voice messages from school districts notify families whose children attend the schools about time changes.

Though district administrators said snow days are used to keep the public safe, some parents said they don’t think their child is getting the most from the education system when school is closed as often as it is. Others said snow days affect daily life when having to take off work to watch a young child when some families cannot afford day care.

Administrators at Bald Eagle, Bellefonte and Penns Valley area school districts said they make up snow days, but do not compensate for instruction time lost from late arrivals and early dismissals caused by weather.

Some teachers said they provide the best education to students for the time given, though weather cancellations, delays and dismissals can throw a curveball into class curriculum.

The CDT reached out to State College Area in March, and again in December, with questions regarding snow days, but did not receive a response to some questions.

Policy

By state law, public schools must meet day or hour instructional requirements. That includes either 180 days of instruction, or 900 hours at the elementary level and 990 hours at the secondary level.

If a school opts to meet the day requirement, the minimum length of an instructional school day varies by grade level. It requires ninth to 12th grades to have a minimum of five and a half hours; grades one to eight to meet for a minimum of five hours a day; and kindergarten to meet for at least two and a half hours.

For schools in Penns Valley Area, for example, regular daily hours exceed the requirement. Kindergarten to fourth grades normally meet from 8:10 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.; fifth and sixth grades meet from 8:10 a.m. to 3:05 p.m.; and seventh to 12th grades are from 8:10 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.

It’s similar at other districts whose administration said gives them wiggle room to work with makeup days.

“They’re calendar driven, but we have built-in weather makeup days,” Potteiger said.

During the 2014-15 school year, Bellefonte Area had six snow days, 10 morning delays and three early dismissals.

Two makeup days were built into the calendar year, and then the school year was extended by four days, said district administrative assistant Michelle Simpson.

A similar schedule was approved for this year.

Potteiger said March 24 and 28 are scheduled for snow makeup days, but in case more days need to be compensated for, the school year will be extended by that number of days.

It’s similar at Bald Eagle, Penns Valley and State College area school districts, though some districts consider extending school days so the year isn’t as long.

In the 2013-14 school year, Penns Valley Area added 30 minutes to class time to make up for its seven snow days.

Superintendent Brian Griffith said that included seven minutes added to the start of school and 23 minutes tacked on to the end of the day.

During the 2014-15 school year, Penns Valley Area had six snow days, eight two-hour delays and three early dismissals.

Penns Valley Area administrative assistant Shelly Weaver said that accounted for several hours of missed instruction time including 21.25 hours lost in kindergarten to fourth grades; 21.5 hours lost in fifth and six grades; and 21.75 hours lost in seventh to 12th grades.

In the same school year, State College Area had five snow days, 11 two-hour delays and four early dismissals in the middle and high school, and three early dismissals at the elementary level. That’s compared to seven snow days in 2013-14, district spokesman Chris Rosenblum said.

Bald Eagle Area had similar weather delays, but did not provide specific figures.

Weaver said full cancellation days were made up at Penns Valley Area, but “we do not make up the early dismissal or delay time.”

That’s a trend for other Centre County school districts.

“They’re still considered a full day,” Potteiger said about delays and early dismissals. “We (Bellefonte Area) do a good job of making up that time, but there is some effect when teachers have to constantly change lesson plans.”

School districts that do not meet annual day or hourly instructional requirements are penalized by the state.

All Centre County school districts were within requirements last school year, according to the state.

Potteiger said in Bellefonte Area, the high school works on a six-day schedule that makes it “easier” for teachers and students to work with cancellations.

“If there is a snow day on Monday, and another snow day on the following Monday, it won’t be the same number day, so teachers and students are not consistently missing the same scheduled classes,” she said. “The rotation helps for scheduling purposes and to relieve some of the pressure from staff having to rearrange their schedules due to snow days and delays.”

Parent reaction

For parents, the number of snow days, late arrivals and early dismissals cause concerns.

A handful of parents with young children in the Bald Eagle Area School District said snow days force them to take off work in order to take care of their child, when day care affordability is not feasible.

The mother of a child at Port Matilda Elementary School, who wished to remain anonymous, said coming to work late because of a two-hour weather delay, or taking full days off of work because of snow days, has a negative impact on her work life.

She called it “a sacrifice.”

She said even though she warned her boss about the potential absences, it still put her job responsibilities onto other people. She said there are also a limited number of days she can take off.

And she said sending her child to day care doesn’t fit into her budget.

David Geiser, the father of a Radio Park Elementary School student, said he was concerned that not all instruction hours lost are compensated for.

He suggested a rule: every time there are three delays or early dismissals, make it up as one snow day.

“Instead of loading four snow days at the end of the academic calendar, make it at least six to account for this likelihood,” Geiser said. “I just ask that it be figured into the SCASD academic calendar. ... I guess the main issue for me is that while I don’t like the inconvenience of school closures, I am more concerned about the impact on instruction, and the lack of accurate accounting for weather interruptions in the calendar. I am sure this is hugely disruptive to the teachers.”

Teaching time

Some teachers said what makes it difficult on them is not so much having full days off, but rather missing time from delays and early dismissals.

Bald Eagle Area High School English teacher Barbara Young said when a school day is canceled, all curriculum shifts to the next available school day. With a delay or early dismissal, it forces teachers to prioritize class curriculum differently.

But teachers work to give students the most education for their time in school.

“We all understand that snow days and early (and) late dismissals are a part of life during a central Pennsylvania winter,” said Bald Eagle Area High School teacher Kathy Gee. “One of a school’s most biggest responsibilities is to try to ensure the safety of its staff and students. … One or two snow days in late winter can be a much needed vacation for both students and staff. We don’t have more than a few long weekends from January until school is dismissed for the summer, and an extra vacation day is refreshing for all.”

A couple of days off has minimal impact on teaching, however, more than that can be hard, she said.

“Numerous disruptions like we had last winter are very challenging for both students and staff,” Gee said. “We did not have a full day, five-day week for three months.”

The first snow day was in November and the last was in March.

“The snow days are tough because students have more time to forget material between lessons,” Gee said. “Delayed starts mean that we lose about 25 percent of instructional time each day. This is not made up. At the high school, this translates to classes that are little more than 30 minutes long. It is tough to fit in an entire lesson, test or lab on these days.”

Bald Eagle Area seventh through 12th grades operate on an six-day period cycle. Only the sixth grade works on a partial block system.

Early dismissals, Gee said, also mean that some afternoon classes don’t meet on those days.

“These students may be shortchanged compared to the students that have a different section of the same class that actually met in the morning,” Gee said.

But teachers said they do the best they can with the time given.

“We adjust schedules, modify lessons and activities, and try to teach the students that life does not always go according to plan, so you do the best you can,” Gee said.

BEAHS social studies teacher John Coltabaugh said that sometimes means handing out more homework so instruction missed in class is still applied to the students.

“It gets frustrating when we have tests or have already scheduled a guest speaker,” Coltabaugh said. “But you just have to deal with it and find a way to prioritize lessons, and that can come in the form of homework.”

Some teachers go into the school year with a backup plan.

“We just have to look at the big picture,” Coltabaugh said. “It can mess up a routine, but I’ve been teaching for 15 years and have a plan ahead of time. We all work together to make these kind of decisions that force us to prioritize and work around unexpected schedule changes.”

This story was originally published December 25, 2015 at 7:50 PM with the headline "Snow days, delays a part of life in central Pennsylvania."