By Stephen Smoot
With the days of stay-at-home parents predominant in families well in the rear-view historical window, school systems have the challenge of making tough decisions during extreme weather events. Every time severe conditions settle in, a process kicks in to help school system officials make the best choice possible.
Those choices must strike the balance not only between the need to keep children in school for academic purposes, and the danger of transporting children to and from facilities in dangerous weather, but also the pressures from the state to hold school a certain number of days without going past the scheduled last day of school.
For Nicole Hevener, Pendleton County superintendent, Kristy Tritapoe, assistant superintendent, and others involved in the process, some events force an obvious decision. When a foot of snow is confirmed on the way, for example, school will close.
All too often, however, the forecast models do not present a clear picture. Days when Pendleton County could get rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain, extreme and bitter cold, a combination of any of those, or nothing at all, create the biggest challenges for officials.
At the first Pendleton County Board of Education meeting in December, broadcast live at the time and also available in a recording on the Pendleton County Schools website, Tritapoe delivered a presentation entitled “Steps to Build a Snow Day.”
The first step, one could call intelligence gathering. “Nicole and I,” Tritapoe stated “attend meetings to talk about the weather forecast and the decision.” She shared later that “the National Weather Service has a meeting that we attend.” These virtual meetings, held at 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., provide local school and other officials with up to the minute information based on their observations and modeling.
These come as part of the NWS’ Impact-Based Decision Support Service. As its website states, “IDSS are forecast advice and interpretive services the NWS provides to help its core partners.”
These include emergency services and other public safety officials. “This support may be needed in response to a particular event or routinely to support high-value decision-making,” shared the NWS website.
Hevener and Tritapoe also reach out to other superintendents and school transportation officials in the region to get their take on what has happened in their areas. Additionally, they will call the West Virginia Division of Highways to “get their take.” With Pendleton County’s topography able to wreak havoc on weather patterns, they also have residents in key areas who can provide valuable information about ground-level conditions in widely scattered parts of the county.
Another vital source of information comes from traffic cameras installed by the Pendleton County Office of Emergency Management. Tritapoe lauded their utility, saying, “I really like it.” The cameras monitor key points on Allegheny Mountain, Elk Mountain, Shenandoah Mountain, and North Fork Mountain and provide instant information on conditions.
That said, Hevener pointed out the occasional malfunctions on the North Fork Mountain camera and stated that she had reached out Rick Gillepsie, OEM coordinator. “He will get back to us when he figures out what’s going on with that one,” she stated.
Finally, Tritapoe relies on voluntary reports, often with photographs, for information. She ensures that the superintendent gets all the information needed to make the choice on how to proceed.
School officials have multiple options available. First comes the traditional “true” snow day. In moderately poor conditions, only “261 day workers” are required to come to work unless the weather is too poor for even that.
No remote learning takes place on such days.
The state allows local school officials five true snow days and five non-traditional instruction days. If counties go past that point and cannot use other options or receive waivers, students will have to attend past the scheduled end date. This creates issues with summer activities, such as family vacations, work start dates, and other conflicts.
Counties strategize the use of these options differently. For example, Kanawha County Schools uses true snow days first before opting for NTI days.
Delays can occur as well, with officials choosing between a two- and a three-hour delay. Hevener and Tritapoe expressed concerns with parents or guardians receiving information too late.
Once decided, as a handout from Tritapoe stated, “The announcement goes out to social media, emails, text messages, and phone calls, as well as to radio and television stations that cover our area.” Regardless of the means, the information gets spread quickly.
No more children huddling around the radio or television waiting patiently for the announcements in this century.
The handout also read, “If possible, the announcement is made the evening before, but could be as late as 4:45 a.m. on the day of the weather event.”
“We try to make those decisions as early as possible,” shared Tritapoe, who then added “we’re not always going to make the right decisions, but we hope to.”
