On Monday afternoon, Pottsville Area Superintendent Jeffrey S. Zwiebel said he dreaded Tuesday morning.
"They're calling for one to three inches of snow," Zwiebel said.
If the roads were bad, he'd have to decide if the district would have a delay Tuesday morning. And it's never an easy call to make.
"Before you make a decision, you could check with a meteorologist or call other superintendents in the area to see what they think or wake up early and take a look outside. I'll be up at 4:30 a.m.," Zwiebel said.
"In the end, you got to go with your gut," Robert L. Urzillo, superintendent of the Blue Mountain School District, said Monday.
When more than an inch of snow fell Tuesday morning, both Blue Mountain and Pottsville Area had two-hour delays.
District superintendents are the ones who decide if there will be delays or cancellations in response to falling snow.
On Dec. 10, at several districts in the county, students arrived at school only to be turned around and put back on the bus within an hour or two.
Urzillo said Blue Mountain was one of the districts that sent students home that day.
Zwiebel said Pottsville Area was one of the districts that didn't.
"The primary reason we'll delay or close schools is for the safety of the students. But weather is not always predictable," Urzillo said.
On Dec. 10, Urzillo dismissed Blue Mountain's students, starting at 11 a.m., fearing that falling snow would accumulate.
"I thought it was going to get worse. It seemed to me that would be a good opportunity to get people home. One of the things you have to realize is it gets darker earlier this time of year and you have some buses with children that are out 4 or 4:30 in the afternoon on the road. And you get more traffic around that time. There's more congestion. They're other factors that will influence your decision to leave early," Urzillo said.
North Schuylkill Superintendent Andrew Smarkanic said he dismissed classes that day, as well.
"Our high school dismissed early and our elementary was cancelled for the day. We get our information from individuals that study an inaccurate science that can change very quickly. The information we had at the time had snow arriving after the students were scheduled to be in school. Mother Nature made a wrong turn and caused us to alter our schedule. I, along with two of my administrators, was on the Interstate at the Hegins exit driving in a heavy snowstorm for a meeting at our Capitol when the decision was made to alter the schedule for the day. Again, this was made with the safety of our students as our primary concern," Smarkanic said.
On Dec. 10, Zwiebel got an opportunity to talk to a meteorologist before making his decision.
"There's something we did differently this year. For the first time, we signed up for a weather service," Zwiebel said.
Called SkyGuard, it is a service that is offered by AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions, State College.
Zwiebel said SkyGuard will send him periodic weather alerts via fax, email and text.
"They also put me in touch with a meteorologist who is assigned to our school district. That's part of the service agreement. So if I have a question about the forecast, I can call someone. Last Tuesday, we had a situation when I called them," Zwiebel said.
"I got here just before 7 last Tuesday morning, and, around 8 o'clock, the snow started to pick up. We had the high school already in. They were in first period. The middle school was just about all in, and I was concerned about the elementary. So I called the meteorologist who was on duty for us that day. And I said 'What can you tell me? The elementary's coming in within an hour.' And he looked at his latest radar and he said 'Honestly, this snow event will be over no later than 11:30.' I think I looked out the window at 11:33 and the snow had stopped here," Zwiebel said.
If Urzillo suspects snow might disrupt a day of school, he said he'll start making phone calls early.
"I start at 5 a.m. I'll look at weather reports. I'll talk to our transportation supervisor. I'll talk to one of our bus contractors out on the road. I'll try to speak with some other superintendents, one or two. We generally talk to each other. You want to gauge what they're hearing. And then I'll make a decision," Urzillo said.
But it's a decision which should not be made lightly, he said.
"The thing we have to realize is, in reality, we're a custodial institution, so to speak. We have custody of the kids for the day. Parents depend on us to have. So if we tell parents at 6 o'clock in the morning that they have to scurry for babysitters, that's not an easy thing to do," Urzillo said.
The state Department of Education doesn't have a say in the matter, according to Timothy Eller, the department's press secretary, said Monday.
"The department does not have a policy that addresses snow days due to the fact that it is a local decision of each school district. It's a challenging decision for superintendents to make since there are multiple factors to consider, most importantly the safety of students," Eller said Monday.
However, the state requires public schools to complete 180 instructional days by June 30, Eller said.