Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Calling a snow day starts early for school superintendents
Much more involved than simply looking out the window
PENN >> When the flakes start to fall, it’s just like those kids singing gleefully on television: “They’ll be no school tomorrow if it snows!”
But for the school superintendents who have to make that announcement, the decision does not come so casually.
Having just come off a day last Friday when he had to delay school opening for two hours, Avon Grove Superintendent Christopher Marchese said the arrival of bad weather prompts him and other superintendents to be up and about long before daybreak. Not only that, he said, but if the truth be told, he’s even routinely monitoring impending conditions several days in advance.
“There’s a combined call for the county superintendents early on. I check with John Sanville at Unionville, Barry Tomasetti at Kennett and David Woods at Oxford. They’re all up by at 4:30,” he said.
Meanwhile, between 4 and 4:30 a.m. the owners from the bus companies, DuVall and Krapf for Avon Grove, are sending out their representatives to assess conditions and report back. If there will be school but there are road closures, the bus company supervisor, not the bus drivers, make decisions on what the alternate routes and stops will be. If the roads are too bad, they let the schools know there are problems.
Marchese said he also contacts his buildings and grounds crews, and they check out the campuses of all the schools — the sidewalks, driveways and other safety issues. The district has contractors whom they con-
tact to lay salt on slippery surfaces.
But that’s just the beginning.
Shortly after that, still in the 4 a.m. hour, Chester County Intermediate Unit Director of Operations Paul K. Thompson hosts a conference call with all the school superintendents in the county — even the ones from as far away as Conestoga and Owen J. Roberts, where conditions may differ. They all receive information from the county emergency services department to document conditions as well as computer-generated weather information and road closures.
Generally, Marchese said, the five southern Chester County schools make the decision to close in concert, although sometimes, like at Octorara, their wideopen spaces exacerbate road conditions, and they might close when others are open ... or vice versa.
County superintendents also have to take into account what the private schools are thinking as well because public schools provide transportation to students who attend nearby private schools and charter School.
There are other situations with snow and ice that the superintendents have to deal with, like whether to cancel evening activities or let school out early.
Marchese recalled one time when the storm had not arrived by the opening of school in the morning. During the day, however, the snow rolled in and he had to cancel afternoon kindergarten but take the other students home at the regular time.
One thing that Marchese said is on his mind through these snowy days is the requirement that the students have 180 days of school per year. So when they have a snow day, they have to remember that it will have to be made up. Sometimes that involves juggling the days of spring vacation, but others it involves going later at the end in June.
“There was one year we went almost to the end of June,” he said.
These days, making sure everyone knows there will be a closing is not difficult. The school sends out text messages, makes phone calls, puts it on the web site and sends the news to KYW and other new agencies.
“The most important thing is that the kids can be in school and be safe,”