Before snow started to fall Sunday night, many Western Pennsylvania school districts made the decision to cancel Monday’s classes or shift to remote instruction.
Districts opting to use a flexible instruction day asked students to use computers to complete schoolwork from home. Students in districts that canceled classes enjoyed what their parents and grandparents called a snow day.
The covid-19 pandemic changed the way districts operate, with students, parents and teachers learning to use virtual instruction similar to their counterparts at cyberschools.
Each district makes its own decision about how to proceed. Administrators, transportation providers, public works departments and weather forecasts play a role in decisions that are ultimately made by superintendents.
“Each decision regarding inclement weather is made on a case-by-case basis,” said Norwin School District spokeswoman Lauren Steiner.
Norwin Superintendent Natalie McCracken also may consult with other school districts in the area for a final decision, which is generally made about 5 a.m. to inform the news media and district employees, Steiner said.
On Monday, Hempfield Area, Highlands, Jeannette, Norwin, Plum and Penn-Trafford were among the region’s districts that opted to use one of a handful of state-assigned flexible instruction days.
Students completed work assigned to them by their teachers or virtually attended classes during their typical school schedule via an online communication platform such as Google Classroom or Zoom.
Though winter weather shifted Penn-Trafford to remote instruction only twice last school year, teachers and students alike seem to enjoy having the option, Superintendent Matt Harris said.
“We’ve received positive support from parents, students and teachers,” he said, noting the district operated on a remote synchronous schedule Monday. “Plus, it gives the students an opportunity to experience online learning and working remotely from home.”
On a synchronous schedule, students and teachers are directly engaged but from remote locations. Under the asynchronous schedule, students work independent of their instructors.
Highlands and Plum schools take a similar approach as Penn-Trafford.
Teachers at Highlands can either meet virtually with their students during their typical class time or assign work to be completed sometime that school day.
Following a two-hour delay, Plum students complete work asynchronously during remote learning days. Synchronous learning is the protocol for consecutive days of remote instruction.
After a two-hour delay to help students and teachers prepare for online instruction, Hempfield Area completed remote synchronous instruction Monday. Most teachers use a portion of their instruction time for lecturing before having students work on assignments, said Superintendent Mark Holtzman.
As a parent to three children in K-12 schools, Holtzman said remote learning days are not always ideal.
“I know … that flexible instruction days are a little bit difficult or challenging,” Holtzman said, “because mom and dad are working or kids are trying to log on and all that kind of stuff.”
Holtzman has seen greater success in capturing students’ attention during in-person instruction, but he admitted remote options are helpful when the weather takes a turn for the worse.
Districts across the state are allowed to use up to five flexible instruction days a school year, according to the state Department of Education. The department must approve an application for a flexible instruction day before a school can use it.
After those five days are used, districts are to address inclement weather by canceling school and making up the day later in the semester.
Traditional ‘snow days’ still a possibility
“We recognize there’s a benefit to students to get out and enjoy the snow,” Mt. Pleasant Area Superintendent Tim Gabauer said.
During the first such cancellation of the school year, students get a traditional lesson-free snow day, providing it occurs before February. Subsequent snow cancellations are handled as remote instruction days for students, Gabauer said.
With a change made to state law in December 2023, schools have more flexibility in configuring their instruction time.
Previous state law required students to attend classes for 180 days and have at least 990 hours of instruction — or 900 hours for students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
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Now, schools can either require students to attend classes for 180 days or hit their grade level’s hourly requirement.
With the added flexibility, Holtzman said he will consider giving students a traditional “snow day” this year if the weather aligns.
“I want kids to enjoy it and be out in the snow if they have the chance to do it and not worry about classwork,” he said. “Build a snowman or sled ride or something that young people should be doing.
“At Hempfield, we’re meeting the hourly calculation far and beyond. We have a pretty long school day, to be quite honest, and we probably could get away with maybe a potential conventional snow day without having to necessarily make the snow day up.”
The school board would need to approve a snow day with no subsequent makeup day, Holtzman said.
But not all districts opt for remote learning when there is inclement weather.
Pittsburgh Public, Riverview and Franklin Regional school districts, for example, were among those that canceled classes Monday.
Riverview has one traditional snow day built into its schedule that does not need to be made up — barring weather conditions that result in an atypical number of school cancellations.
For Franklin Regional Superintendent Gennaro Piraino, remote learning is not an adequate replacement for in-class instruction.
“I certainly prefer in-person to both synchronous or asynchronous learning,” Piraino said. “I think something is definitely lost when you don’t have that face-to-face. But ultimately everything comes down to safety.”
The decision was a fairly simple one, Piraino said.
“We knew we’d be having weather that could affect not just bringing kids in, but getting them home in the afternoon,” he said.
Snowfall light in most of Western Pa.
Officials expected 2 to 4 inches of snow by Monday morning in the Pittsburgh area and higher accumulations south of Interstate 70. But totals late Monday were modest in most locations — reaching about 2 inches in areas such as Castle Shannon, Laughlintown and Smithton.
Seven Fields and Mars in Butler County received about 2¼ inches. In Westmoreland County, West Newton saw 3½ inches and Monessen had 2½ inches. About 3 to 5 inches fell in parts of Fayette, Greene and Washington counties.
Light lake effect snow is forecast for the next few days, said Jared Rackley, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Pittsburgh office in Moon. The eastern portion of Westmoreland County could receive a half-inch to an inch of snow, Rackley said.
Though snowfall was not as heavy as anticipated in most of Westmoreland County, it was enough to impact Jeannette City School District’s state testing.
The district pushed its Keystone exam schedule back one day to account for its shift to remote learning Monday.
Jeannette Superintendent Matt Jones appreciates having the remote learning option.
“When creating a district calendar just a few years back, a significant number of days between August and June were designated as snow days,” he said. “Now with the option to utilize flexible instructional days, those designated days have been reduced greatly.”
Remote instruction also means students are more likely to get their full spring break, Jones said — instead of losing a day or two to snow makeup days.