When the weather gets bad, Mike Porembka hops in his truck and hits the road at 4 a.m.
The Greater Latrobe School District superintendent drives around the district — from downtown Latrobe to Unity — gathering information and assessing road conditions and temperatures. Ultimately, he must decide whether to cancel or delay school.
“A large percentage of the time, you’re right,” he said, “but sometimes, you miss.”
When the heavy snow hits or temperatures reach single digits, school superintendents in Western Pennsylvania face a judgment call: To close or not to close.
The decision is far from simple. Superintendents are legally the only person in a district who can make the call — choosing either a two-hour delay, remote learning day or full cancellation.
No doubt, they’ll be second guessed.
“It’s one of the decisions that you make that nobody is happy with,” said Christopher Sefcheck, superintendent of New Kensington-Arnold School District. “Unless you’re right.”
This week, local superintendents have been tasked with making multiple calls because of inclement weather.
Sherri Smith, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators, said each decision is a judgment call based on the individual superintendent and unique factors in each area.
In Porembka’s case, conversations with other Greater Latrobe administrators begin about 5 a.m. A decision to delay must be made by 5:30 a.m. Bus drivers start arriving at the terminal between 5:45 and 6 a.m., he said.
Porembka talks to the district’s transportation liaison, who usually is out assessing conditions ahead of time, as well as the bus garage and local government officials.
Sometimes, talks start the day before.
“It’s constant conversation back and forth,” Porembka said. “What do you see? How are you doing? This is what I think. What do you think?”
Smith said weather forecasts aren’t always accurate, which leads to difficult decisions.
“Weather can turn on a dime,” she said.
When superintendents are able, they will make the call the night before, Porembka said, recognizing the impact that the decision can have on parents.
“We know that allows parents to plan … so parents have time to prepare,” he said.
Smith was superintendent at Lower Dauphin School District for more than 14 years, and she dealt with plenty of weather cancellations.
Some superintendents wait as long as they can, she said.
Similar to Porembka, she would be up at 3 or 4 a.m. talking to neighboring districts’ superintendents.
Because the decision is so subjective, the call isn’t always the right one, Porembka said. He said he’s canceled school before, and it ended up just raining by 10 a.m.
How the board-approved school calendar is set up affects the decision, as well, Smith said.
“Some build in extra days to just take off for the snow day,” she said. “Others will make a virtual day.”
Protocol at Pittsburgh Public Schools states the first two snow days are regular snow days for which all facilities are closed and everyone is off, according to spokesperson Ebony Pugh. Any cancellations after that will be synchronous remote instruction days.
It just so happened that, this week, the district used its two snow days Tuesday and Wednesday.
With 54 schools, Pittsburgh Public Schools has a wide footprint across the city. Pugh said there are multiple factors that go into snow day decisions. Superintendent Wayne Walters has to look comprehensively across the city.
“Ultimately, our decision revolves around the safety of students. We have to make the decision with the best information we have,” Pugh said. “It could look different on one end of town compared to the other.”
The decision-making process begins between 3 and 4 a.m., and the district receives information from its transportation department and chief operations manager, she said. The district relies on the National Weather Service, as well.
Pugh said Walters will try to make a decision no later than 5:30 a.m.
If school is canceled again, she said, the district is prepared for remote learning, as each student has their own device.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday was an in-service day at Greater Latrobe, Porembka said, and there already was a pre-scheduled two-hour late start for teachers to grade papers because it’s the end of the first semester.
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He said this aided the decision-making process Tuesday, and he ended up calling a remote learning day. On Wednesday, students had a two-hour delay.
“You’re trying to make the right call to make sure everyone’s safe,” Porembka said.
To comply with Pennsylvania Department of Education rules, districts must submit flexible instructional day plans ahead of time and cannot exceed five remote days per year.
Remote learning poses particular challenges, said Brian Brown, director of technology and innovation at Penn Hills School District. Students might struggle to connect their devices to home Wi-Fi. Some might have forgotten laptops at school.
On remote days, the district runs a help desk line for parents who can’t resolve technical difficulties on their own.
Teachers can run into problems, too. That’s why New-Kensington-Arnold School District took Tuesday off, giving faculty time to adjust their lessons and communicate expectations for the remote format on Wednesday, Sefcheck said.
After consulting with district staff and neighboring superintendents via group text, Wilkinsburg superintendent Joe Maluchnik opted for a full closure Wednesday because of frigid temperatures. In his view, it’s better to burn built-in snow days instead of taking the day online, especially because Wilkinsburg only enrolls students up to sixth grade.
“The learning is going to be more enduring that way,” Maluchnik said.
If too many closures accumulate, Maluchnik said he’s willing to go remote. The district bought each student a Chromebook in 2021 using Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, part of the American Rescue Plan Act.
But there’s a magic feeling that comes with an unplanned day off, one that sticks with Maluchnik from his time as a student.
“I’m 50 years old,” Maluchnik said. “I remember snow days when I was a kid.”
Porembka shares the philosophy that, sometimes, students just need a true snow day.
“There’s some joy in finding out you don’t have to go to school and can go out and play,” he said.