Pittsburgh-area school districts are running out of snow days
School districts are now dealing with the fallout of a winter that has already pushed calendars to the limit.
Pittsburgh Public Schools is officially out of snow days, and several other districts are either in the same position or rapidly approaching it. But thanks to a state law known as Act 56, districts now have another option.
Pittsburgh Public Schools confirms it has exhausted all built-in snow days. From here on out, any weather-related closure will mean remote instruction, not to be confused with flexible instruction days, or FID, which used to be capped by the state.
Under Act 56, districts can now shift to remote learning with no limit on the number of days, as long as instruction is delivered.
"For remote day, there is no application for it," explained Chartiers-Houston Superintendent Gary Peiffer. "You can apply remote hours towards the 900 and 990 and as long as you make those hours, you can continue to use remote days and remote days are asynchronous learning."
Other districts KDKA reached out to, including Charleroi and Laurel Highlands, said they're in similar positions, either already out of snow days or down to their final one after a winter filled with repeated storms.
However, this comes with challenges, including student engagement, internet access and parents balancing work schedules.
"It's a difficult decision to make because there are so many things impacting it," Peiffer said. "But in the end, you always want to err on the side of caution and safety and the fear that somebody could be injured.
With a state of emergency declared, districts note the governor has previously waived the requirement to make up missed school days during extreme weather.
"So there may be some forgiveness of days over the that 900, 990 hours based on the emergency declaration," Peiffer said. "I haven't seen anything yet, but past practice, that's happened, so school may have some latitude with that."
Districts are urging families to stay alert for last-minute decisions and be prepared for remote days, because this winter has already rewritten the rule book.