Tags Posts tagged with "Snow Day"

Snow Day

By Samantha Rutt

Residents woke up to a winter wonderland on Feb. 13, as a snowstorm brought several inches of snow to the area. The storm, which began in the early hours of the morning and continued into the afternoon, leaving a picturesque scene across towns and villages along the North Shore.

Reports from local meteorologists indicated that the snowfall ranged from 4 to 6 inches in most areas, with some isolated spots receiving up to 8 inches. Strong winds accompanying the storm also led to drifting snow in certain areas, creating challenging conditions for morning commuters.

As a result of the inclement weather, several school districts in the region announced closures for the day, ensuring the safety of students and staff. Additionally, transportation authorities advised residents to exercise caution while traveling, as roadways and sidewalks were coated with snow and ice.

As the snow gradually tapered off throughout the day, municipal crews and private contractors worked diligently to clear roads and sidewalks, ensuring that normalcy could resume as soon as possible. 

On Monday, Feb. 1, the first snowstorm of the year hit Long Island, causing people to stay home and shovel nearly two-feet of snow.  We asked residents to share their snow day photos with us.

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Kids are dismissed early from Port Jefferson’s middle and high schools on a previous snow day. File photo by Michael Ruiz

Slippery conditions and cold temperatures are a couple of reasons to hate snow, and now Port Jefferson kids and parents have another one: cutting into the school break.

Despite a handful of snowfalls, with the help of the heaviest of them falling on a weekend, the school district has kept closings to just two days — last Friday and Monday. But those instruction days still have to be made up at some point, so that the district stays in compliance with state education regulations regarding the minimum number of school days.

Superintendent Ken Bossert said at the Port Jefferson Board of Education meeting on Tuesday night that, as a result, the snow will dig into April. The first lost day will be made up on Friday, April 22, which was originally scheduled as a staff conference day, and the other will be made up on Monday, April 25, which was supposed to be the first day of spring break.

Delayed openings and early dismissals, which the school district also uses to ensure student safety during snow events, do not affect the count of instruction days and thus do not have to be made up elsewhere.

If there are any more storms that precipitate school closings, each instruction day missed will be redeemed during the spring break, according to Bossert, cutting deeper into that vacation time.

The superintendent explained that due to the way the school calendar was designed in the 2015-16 school year, with a late Labor Day and the way the Jewish holidays Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur fell, the calendar was “much less flexible with building in snow days.”

Next year is shaping up to be different. The school board approved a 2016-17 calendar on Tuesday night that starts a couple of days earlier than the current year and has five snow days built in from the get-go.

“And we can actually do more than that without encroaching on religious observances and things like that,” Bossert said.