The area is experiencing another return to mild weather conditions with temperatures moving into the 40s today.
Temperatures should remain mild over the weekend with highs in the 50s Saturday and cooling off to the 40s again on Sunday.
Monday brings a return to high temperatures in the 30s for several days.
The next best chance for snow comes Monday night and that is what school districts throughout the area are ready for no matter how seldom it has happened this winter.
The Tyrone Area School District has seen one early dismissal, one delay and one cancellation of classes this school year. All of those occurred before the beginning of the new year.
Earlier this week, school districts in surrounding areas were subject to delays and cancellations, but classes went on as scheduled at Tyrone and Bellwood-Antis.
The Daily Herald spoke with Tyrone Area superintendent Dr. William N. Miller recently about his district’s measures for dealing with bad weather conditions.
“(If) we have a severe weather situation that starts in the day and is going to go through the evening and it is pretty clear we are not going to have school the next day then we will make a call not to have school (the next day),” said Miller.
“Most of our situations we actually make the call in the early hours of the morning,” said Miller.
He said the district relies on the bus contractor to check roads in different areas including Sinking Valley and Warriors Mark Township.
“I talk to him very late in the evening and again in the morning to find out what those road conditions are,” said Miller.
He said he is also in contact with others who provide information on road conditions. Miller said he also works with other superintendents in the county the evening before and the morning of a bad weather event.
“If we see it’s bad we’ll go with a late start then we’ll take another look at it and see whether we’ll need to just close up,” said Miller. “We (Tyrone and the other districts) do work together and share our conditions and where possible we’ll be united in that decision that we make. But, that is not always the case because of the idiosyncrasies that exist in each of the individual districts with weather patterns, roads and buses.”
He also stays on top of weather conditions by using various weather related websites.
Miller said even if the decision varies from one district to another he and his counterparts keep each other informed. Once a decision is made, television and radio stations are informed. Miller said the district also has an alert system that informs district employees via voicemail within minutes.
The automated system is also used for early dismissals to inform parents. Miller noted the district strives to make sure students have lunch before releasing them to go home. He said home athletic events scheduled on the day of a school cancellation are also canceled. If the event is scheduled away then the opponent’s school district makes the decision. He said Tyrone Area offers input to the opposing district to ensure the safety of the students in regards to travel.
Miller said it can also be used to alert employees or parents about non-weather related emergencies.
“We make the best call that we can make and we keep in mind the safety of the kids first,” said Miller.
