Imagine you walk outside, and it feels oddly cold today. You look down at your phone to check the weather only to find out that it’s 8 degrees! Looking at this cold temperature, one would assume that a delay would be called at least, but that’s not always the case. The Norwin guidelines call for a multitude of factors to be in play to implement a two-hour delay that can cause some confusion as to when delays and flexible instruction days (FID) will occur. Both follow the 2-hour delay bell schedule.
According to the official Norwin website: “School delays or cancellations due to cold weather are based on weather forecasts which take into consideration temperatures, wind chill factors, and gusty winds.”
Another factor in deciding to delay is First Student, the busing company Norwin uses to transport students daily. The company lets the Superintendent and a few others aware of how the roads and buses are doing and if they are fit for transport.
According to the official Norwin website: “Input from the District’s busing contractor, First Student, is received after they have driven various roadways in the School District firsthand. This procedure normally begins at 4:30 a.m. so that a decision can be made if a delay or cancellation seems warranted. ”
FID days are expected to occur when the conditions outside that called for a delay show no signs of improvement throughout the day.
“If road conditions are bad in the morning but expected to improve,” said Superintendent Dr. Natalie McCracken, “the District will call a delay to give the road departments time to treat the roads before busses transport students. In some cases, the snow or ice continues, and it necessitates making the delay turn into a FID.”
However, the school district cannot use Flexible Instruction Days (or FID) every time the weather conditions go south. Each school district must apply for a license to use a set amount of FID days.
According to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s official website: “The number of FIDs may not exceed five (5) days per school year. A FID used for one building counts as one of the five days permitted each year for the entire public school entity.”
In addition to Flexible Instruction Days, districts may apply for remote instruction days (RID) that some school districts implement to make wintertime easier by setting it up for spontaneous weather. Despite their limitations, using both FID and RID days has its uses and place in the school year.
“The benefit of using a FID over a school closure is that closures result in having to make up the instructional day,” said Dr. McCracken, “which could change the school calendar by either changing days within the calendar or adding days to the end of the school year.”
This year, Norwin School District has used 4 out of 5 FID days allotted to them this year due to the 21 days of heavy snowfall and single-digit temperatures. This is because the area around Westmoreland County in the month of January has been subject to a polar vortex that was pushed down from far north. A polar vortex is an area of low pressure and cold temperatures that surrounds both of the poles. Sometimes during the winter months, the northern vortex will expand beyond its normal borders and bring its frigid temperatures down to us via the jet stream of air that flows across the continent.
Will the winter weather continue? Or will Punxsutawney Phil turn things around and bring about an early spring.
“So I think it’s gonna be rainy,” said physics teacher, and resident meteorologist, Mr. Douglas Knipple, “but there may be another winter storm out there. Winter might not be over yet.”
