Some districts turning to classic snow days after depleting virtual learning allowance

Old-fashioned snow days are no longer local superintendents’ first thought when the roads get slick, but they’re not quite a thing of the past, either.

That’s mostly due to a code amended by the General Assembly in 2019 to allow public schools to develop a program to meet the 180-day instructional day requirement. It limits the number of flexible instruction days — where students stay home but attend classes via the internet.

The total is five, provided districts get state approval ahead of time, though extenuating circumstances can net them a couple extra.

This week, when temperatures plummeted below zero, many area districts, like Deer Lakes and Burrell, kept students at home to learn remotely.

Others had to cancel class altogether because they reached the maximum of state-permitted remote learning days.

For Highlands, the makeup days will cut into previously scheduled holiday breaks.

Highlands closed Tuesday and Wednesday, along with hundreds of other districts in the state, to protect students and staff from dangerous temperatures. The official low on Wednesday reached minus 9 degrees, but there were reports it was even colder in some places.

Superintendent Monique Mawhinney said it’s not typical that the district runs out of flexible learning days, but this year saw some unusual circumstances.

In September, students learned remotely after a violent threat was made against the district.

“This decision was made in consideration of the threats made these past two days and the impact they may have on our students’ mental health,” Mawhinney said at the time.

In October, students learned remotely because of Norfolk Southern railroad track repairs in Harrison, Brackenridge and Tarentum. The district said the work would have a major impact on busing.

The district announced make-up days for Feb. 17, President’s Day, and April 16, previously scheduled as part of the district’s spring break.

The Kiski Area School District has been fortunate enough to have winter weather as its only scheduling snag, but even then, remote days are running low.

Students were kept home for virtual learning Jan. 6 and Jan. 16 because of snow, and Tuesday and Wednesday as early morning temperatures dipped below zero.

The district has one remote day left, plus two snow make-up days baked into the calendar, on President’s Day and March 21, if needed.

After that, according to Superintendent Jason Lohr, students could lose some days off or be looking at extra school in June.

It would take some extreme weather for the district to petition the state for more remote days, in Lohr’s view.

“If there was a full-on emergency that happened, say, we get dumped on with several inches of snow, that would be a really out-of-the-box thing to go to the state,” Lohr said.

Usually, the district doesn’t even come close to having these dilemmas, Lohr said. They’re ones he would rather not have — but he’s just speaking for himself.

“From a kid end, yeah, it’s pretty awesome,” Lohr conceded.