Procedures for Determining a Delay or Cancellation
- Procedures for Determining a Two Hour Delay or Cancellation
- Determining a Delay or Closure Due to Extreme Cold or Wind Chill
Procedures for Determining a Two Hour Delay or Cancellation
Procedures for Determining a Two Hour Delay or Cancellation
The Connellsville Area School District takes extensive measures to determine whether school should be delayed or cancelled due to inclement weather conditions. Our priority is to ensure that we can transport our students safely on school buses as well as have road conditions suitable for student drivers and staff. There are a multitude of factors that go into making this decision. Below is some insight on how we make this determination.
Background Information
The State of Pennsylvania requires that school is in session for a specific number of days each school year. It is our duty to make certain that the Connellsville Area School District meets that state requirement within the timeline given. Each time school is cancelled, the district now uses Flexible Instruction Days (FID) to help maintain the continuity of the educational process. If the five (5) allotted Flexible Instruction Days are used in any given year, the district can then use Remote Instruction Days. These days are similar in nature to the Flexible Instruction Days, but use a different name since they extend beyond the five (5) allotted state issued days. There are times that school closures can be utilized and are made up through the traditional method of being built into the calendar, by shortening a holiday break, or by adding onto the school year.
Determining a Delay or Closure in the Event of Snow
If weather forecasters are predicting snow and/or ice that could impact road conditions and adversely affect the safety of our students, district representatives travel the district roads between 4:00 AM and 5:00 AM. The route includes roads that are most heavily traveled by school buses in both the higher elevations as well as the lower terrain to determine whether they will be considered safe during student arrival. Several safety hazards are considered such as icy intersections, snow drifts, and dangerous amounts of snow on the road. This first-hand account and evaluation includes communication between neighboring school districts, Township Supervisors, Borough and City Officials, and PennDOT, to make a determination on whether safe travel to school is probable. This evaluation process involves cross-referencing the various weather predicting outlets that are available including, but not limited to, The National Weather Service.
There is no clear cut formula for delaying/canceling school due to snow and ice. There are times when unexpected conditions occur after a decision has been made. The bus companies are given the latitude in such situations to determine what roads are safe to travel and which are not. It is possible that some students may not be picked up if the drivers encounter a road deemed unsafe due to the untimely inclement weather, thus becoming an excused absence.
Those that check the conditions make a decision based on their first-hand account of the roads, status of road treatment, pending weather predictions and other weather factors. Determining a delay or cancellation is a science but it is not an exact science. There are 220 square miles within the Connellsville Area School District with considerably different geographical conditions at times. As many of you know, conditions in the area of the City of Connellsville are often very different from the conditions in the mountain areas of our district. Each and every decision made is done with great care and consideration.
Determining a Delay or Closure Due to Extreme Cold or Wind Chill
Determining a Delay or Closure Due to Extreme Cold and/or Wind Chill
Western Pennsylvania winter weather can often bring about cold temperatures and a wind chill that can become quite low. When temperatures and/or wind chill reach certain thresholds, it is sometimes necessary to delay or close school due to these factors. Many of the district’s students may be waiting at the bus stop for an extended period of time or have to walk a considerable distance.
The Connellsville Area School District typically begins to consider delay or closure due to wind chill when the wind chill is below -10 to -15 degrees. Delays or closure are also considered when the ambient temperature (regular air temperature) falls below 0 degrees. There are times when the ambient temperature is well above zero and the Wind Chills sink quite low. A bit more tolerance of the wind chill is given when the ambient temperature remains above 0 degrees. Additional consideration of these calculations is taken into account when The National Weather Service issues wind chill and cold weather advisories, watches, or warnings. These classifications do not automatically trigger a delay or cancellation, but indicate that careful observation of the temperatures and wind chills would be necessary.
Much like the process for calling delays and closures due to road conditions, the process involving cold weather and wind chill is a science, but not an exact science. With the Connellsville Area School District encompassing nearly 220 square miles, conditions and temperatures vary greatly from place to place. Additionally, this evaluation process involves constantly cross-referencing the various weather predicting outlets that are available including, but not limited to, The National Weather Service, which often vary greatly across their platforms as well. All of this information and factors are taken very seriously by district staff when making decisions that impact the safety of our students.