I love the occasional two-hour delay and cancellation, and like everything else I love, I don’t question why or how it came to be. Most of us never question these breaks from school, and why would you?
Having a late start to school is great because you get to sleep in a little more, and the only downfall to a snow day is one less day for Easter vacation. That being said, does anyone really know who has the final say when it comes to our school delays?
The fact is that the only person with the power to delay or cancel school is the superintendent. At Freedom, that means Dr. Jeffery Fuller has final say when it comes to a snow day. However, according to Fuller, the worst part about being superintendent is making that call.
This monumental decision is not made alone; while Fuller does have final say, that does not mean that he makes this choice entirely by himself. Many superintendents from different districts are in contact with each other, talking about conditions like roadways and temperature.
Along with communication between superintendents, Fuller also talks to organizations like the transportation company, PennDot and the New Sewickley Police Department. With all these resources at hand, Fuller then makes a justified decision.
From a student’s point of view, calling off school is no big deal; from a superintendent’s point of view, however, there are many different factors that come into play when making such a call.
“Typically [when the temperature] is around five below zero, we start to think about a delay,” Fuller said.
The main purpose of a two-hour delay is to buy time. How different are the conditions going to be two hours from the normal start time of school?
“As superintendent, my main concern is the safety of the students and faculty,” Fuller said.
Along with the temperature, Fuller also has to keep in mind road conditions. Is it safe for children to drive? Is the bus company willing to send out their buses? Not only do superintendents have to keep transportation in mind, but also, what happens if the parents/guardians of younger children work during the school day?
“If I don’t cancel school, I’ll get calls from parents mad that their children have to be out in the cold,” Fuller said, “If I do cancel school, I’ll get calls from parents saying that they can’t work because their kids are at home.”
Most of the time it’s a lose-lose situation for the superintendents, and that is what makes this decision such a tough one.
Not only is safety a concern, but the state requires that schools have a certain amount of teaching hours, which for most schools is around 180 days of education. Though Freedom has a few days less than this, the days missed due to cancellations must be made up before June 30.
Due to harsh weather conditions this winter, Freedom has used all three of our built-in snow days. The last cancellation due to road conditions resulted in the loss of one day of Easter Vacation.