In high school, most teenagers evolve from riding the bus to driving themselves throughout their four years. Having only about a year of driving experience, these students enjoy commuting to school on their own. But with our location in the United States, snow can present a major issue. Each winter, our area receives a bit of snow. In some years, almost two feet of snow has fallen.

Since some FHS students drive smaller cars without four-wheel drive, driving in the snow can endanger their safety. Buses are also at risk of sliding off the road, or even being incapable of starting up.

“The overarching question is always a question of safety,” Principal William Deal said.

As for this winter season, there have been a few days that have been questionably terrible, which a delay could have fixed. Let’s face it, waking and up not being able to see the road isn’t a very assuring view. On the contrary, there have been a few days where a delay occurred, even though the roads were acceptable. Some of us don’t live in Conway or Freedom where the roads are taken care of more often. Many of the students live in New Sewickley, where there are many private roads are untouched.

With our winter weather progressing each day, a few delays wouldn’t hurt. Many times, the turnout of students is higher on a bad day when the extra time is given to trek to school. From a teacher’s standpoint, the only issue with a delay is less time to learn because of less time in the classroom.

The fact that there are student drivers who commute to school everyday, the snow and ice causes major concern.

“The roads out by my house are usually pretty bad, so getting to school on a snowy day is terrible,” Junior Jacob Moldovan said.

Seeing as our school district consists of many areas, it’s hard to gauge how bad the roads really are. A list of people must be called and talked to before Dr. Jeffrey Fuller can arrange a delay or closing. Freedom has had a few days where a delay would have helped.

In our district, some schools are thinking about changing their policies; instead of delays, they will only have cancellations. The only school so far to actually do this is Blackhawk, with New Brighton on the fence. Blackhawk’s idea is to not delay and leave it up to the judgment of students and staff.

“No matter what choice we make, it’s hardly ever the right one to suit everyone,” Deal said.