Snow storm causes headaches in schools, on roads
POTTSTOWN >> Heavy snow caused some headaches for more than just commuters around the Pottstown area.
On Thursday, snow began to fall around 11 a.m. and started picking up speed as the afternoon began. By early afternoon, more than 100 accidents were reported
in Montgomery County, prompting an alert from Montgomery County officials urging folks to stay off the roads. By 2:40 p.m. the number of accidents had climbed to 250 and the number of disabled vehicles had reached 350.
The weather also prompted a number of early school closings in the area including Abington, Boyertown, Cheltenham, Colonial, Hatboro-Horsham, Jenkintown, Lower Merion, Lower Moreland, Methacton, Norristown, North Penn, Perkiomen Valley, Pottsgrove, Pottstown, Souderton, Springfield, Upper Dublin, Upper Merion, Upper Moreland, Upper Perkiomen, and Wissahickon School Districts.
Spring-Ford Area School District was the exception and parents were not happy, particularly given the number of weather-related accidents being reported in Montgomery County, and expressed that unhappiness on social media.
“Many schools were out by 10 and 11 not caring about the half- or full day rules but the safety of students and staff. Why can’t (Spring-Ford) ever seem to get these calls right?” Jen Tornetta posted on the school district’s Facebook page.
“Embarrassing! I picked my kids up at 1:20 and it took me 45 minutes to get there and I just got home,” Janine Nicole posted at 3:30 p.m. “What makes you think it’s safer for them to ride a bus when me alone took two hours to get home imagine how long the bus will be! New superintendent PLEASE!”
“You closed a day last year for rain,” posted Gene Suski. “Give us a break. Just admit you screwed this up.”
“Please understand that we make the decisions to open or close the schools in bad weather based on the analysis of many factors,” Spring-Ford officials posted on the district’s web page.
“Earlier this morning the weather forecasters were predicting the height of the storm would hit our area at the same time the high school students would be dismissed,” officials wrote. “We do our absolute best in this process and no perfect decision exists in most cases.”
Stephen Rodriguez, superintendent of schools for Pottstown School District, addressed the early school dismissals in a Facebook video, noting that these instances aren’t always the easiest to call.
“We’ve been tracking Winter Storm Avery for three days and the forecast changed. I know because I actually took a picture of it and said, ‘I wonder what it’s going to be in a few hours,’” said Rodriguez.
“Today was a tough call because if you look at just the accumulation, you might think, ‘Hey just tough it out. Let the kids stay in school.’ But knowing that things could be very dangerous and the fact that I usually have to make the call five hours before anything actually happens, like today we made the call at 8 a.m. for something that might not happen until much much later, it’s very difficult.”
In his video, Rodriguez added that there are several factors that need to be considered for such a call, including sidewalk safety for students who walk, the accuracy of the forecast and the safety of the students in the district who are bused to other schools.
In some areas, an early dismissal was not enough to keep travel woes at bay, however.
In Pottsgrove School District, parents reported on Facebook that their children’s buses were running behind schedule after the students were dismissed two hours early. Others felt that the call wasn’t made early enough.
“We looked at the report and we decided to do a two hour early dismissal. We made that decision at around 9 a.m. and since then the storm has moved a little quicker and has gotten more intense than anticipated. We are starting to get our kids home right now but we’re doing the best we can, ”said Gary DeRenzo, director of community relations and co-curricular programs for Pottstown School District.
By 2:30 p.m., Pottsgrove School District had sent out an update on the status of the buses.
“Currently, the high school bus runs are completed with the exception of Bus #4 which continues to drop off students. The Middle School currently has 75 percent of their students en-route with the remaining 25 percent still at the Middle School. The Elementary School buses have just begun their routes. The buses are now running approximately 1 ½ hours behind their normal scheduled time. We will continue to update you as we monitor the situation. Thank you and we appreciate your patience,” read the update.
DeRenzo added that because the storm is different than first anticipated, the school district plans to “play it by ear” and make a decision regarding school schedules for Friday early tomorrow morning.
Lower Pottsgrove Police also updated residents about the conditions of the roads by mid-afternoon warning that road conditions were poor and that they had already responded to a large number of disabled vehicles and crashes in the area.
“We have numerous patrol units out and the Township Public Work Crews have been working to keep up with the storm. Penn DOT is also out. If you don’t need to go out, stay home. If do need to travel, use extreme caution: Clear windows, drive slowly and leave plenty of stopping room,” warned Lower Pottsgrove Police.
PennDOT announced Thursday that speed restrictions had been placed on highways, reducing speed limits to 45 mph. Additionally, Pottstown Area Rapid Transit reported that they were suspending night service for Thursday evening due to the weather.
Updates on state road conditions and restrictions can be found by visiting 511pa.com
According to the National Weather Service, a winter weather advisory is in effect until 9 p.m. Thursday and a hazardous weather outlook has been issues for central New Jersey, northern New Jersey, northwest New Jersey and southeast Pennsylvania.
Tonight, sleet, possibly mixed with freezing rain can be expected before 7 p.m., then rain. The low is expected to be around 32 degrees. Winds could gust as high as 26 mph. Little or no ice accumulation expected. New sleet accumulation of less than one inch possible, according to the National Weather Service. Tomorrow, there is a chance of rain and snow before 9 a.m., then a slight chance of rain between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. Weather will be cloudy, then gradually become mostly sunny, with a high near 42.