July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Weather wreaks havoc on schools
10 days missed not the most over a decade
The number of school days canceled for weather in Jay County is higher than usual, but still hasn't reached record levels.
Jay Schools has been out 10 days this school year, with the potential for more to come with more winter and spring ahead, and 2009-10 already ranks third highest for number of days canceled in the last 20 school years.
The recent record is 12 days, set in 1995-96 and tied in 1998-99.
Since 1989-90, the average number of days missed per year, not including this year, is 5.3.
As of now, the final day of classes this year is scheduled for June 11. Jay Schools superintendent Tim Long said the state usually doesn't make determinations on criteria for waivers until May, but that "If it's made available to us, we'll seek it."
Another issue that's arisen in Jay County concerns the graduation ceremony, which is scheduled for June 6. Long said despite the fact that school will be in session to June 11, that as of now, the ceremony will remain on that day.
"People plan their travel schedules, that's a big day in the lives of students," Long said about graduation. "Even if we moved it ... we might have to move it again.
"The easiest thing to do is maintain that day," Long said.
Long, who makes the final call on cancellation of school, says that geography plays a role in his decision.
"We've got a big county," said Long. "There's a big discrepancy sometimes in weather from one end to the other."
Long says the decision is always made in the interest of student safety. And since the county contains about 700 miles of road in a nearly 400 square mile area, there's a lot to consider when deciding whether school's in session.
"The county has done a tremendous job on the roads," Long said. "They're pushing snow when there is no place else to push snow. ... I want to compliment the county on the work they've done."
Weather has affected Fort Recovery Schools, but not to the same degree.
Fort schools, which have cancelled classes six days this school year due to weather, is currently scheduled to end its year on May 25. Ohio schools are allowed five "calamity days," that do not have to be made up.
The extra day will be made up in Fort Recovery on Wednesday, March 31.
Jay County's Long says that since some buses need to hit the roads about an hour and a half before school starts, the call on whether to cancel needs to be made early.
So on some occasions, even though fog or ice may clear up by the time students would be in school with a delay at 10 a.m., the call is made to protect those vehicles on the road early.
In terms of cancellations, January is the worst time for school, with 54 of 106 days - not including this year - called during the month. Snow and ice attribute for most closings, but school has been off due to fog 17 times in the 20-year span.
In years with a high amount of days off, the cancellations tend to pile up around one event. In 1995-96, school was called from Jan. 3-5 and 8-11 due to snow. In 1998-99, a similar event occurred with classes cancelled from Jan. 4-8 and 11-15.
The average amount of cancelled days has increased slightly in the last decade, from 5.4 days in the 90s to 6.1 days in the 2000s, including this year. However, there's no real trend year-to-year. In 1994-95 there was only one day called. It then bounded to 12 in 1995-96 and back down to four in 1996-97.
There has only been one year, 2001-02, with no days called due to weather.[[In-content Ad]]
Jay Schools has been out 10 days this school year, with the potential for more to come with more winter and spring ahead, and 2009-10 already ranks third highest for number of days canceled in the last 20 school years.
The recent record is 12 days, set in 1995-96 and tied in 1998-99.
Since 1989-90, the average number of days missed per year, not including this year, is 5.3.
As of now, the final day of classes this year is scheduled for June 11. Jay Schools superintendent Tim Long said the state usually doesn't make determinations on criteria for waivers until May, but that "If it's made available to us, we'll seek it."
Another issue that's arisen in Jay County concerns the graduation ceremony, which is scheduled for June 6. Long said despite the fact that school will be in session to June 11, that as of now, the ceremony will remain on that day.
"People plan their travel schedules, that's a big day in the lives of students," Long said about graduation. "Even if we moved it ... we might have to move it again.
"The easiest thing to do is maintain that day," Long said.
Long, who makes the final call on cancellation of school, says that geography plays a role in his decision.
"We've got a big county," said Long. "There's a big discrepancy sometimes in weather from one end to the other."
Long says the decision is always made in the interest of student safety. And since the county contains about 700 miles of road in a nearly 400 square mile area, there's a lot to consider when deciding whether school's in session.
"The county has done a tremendous job on the roads," Long said. "They're pushing snow when there is no place else to push snow. ... I want to compliment the county on the work they've done."
Weather has affected Fort Recovery Schools, but not to the same degree.
Fort schools, which have cancelled classes six days this school year due to weather, is currently scheduled to end its year on May 25. Ohio schools are allowed five "calamity days," that do not have to be made up.
The extra day will be made up in Fort Recovery on Wednesday, March 31.
Jay County's Long says that since some buses need to hit the roads about an hour and a half before school starts, the call on whether to cancel needs to be made early.
So on some occasions, even though fog or ice may clear up by the time students would be in school with a delay at 10 a.m., the call is made to protect those vehicles on the road early.
In terms of cancellations, January is the worst time for school, with 54 of 106 days - not including this year - called during the month. Snow and ice attribute for most closings, but school has been off due to fog 17 times in the 20-year span.
In years with a high amount of days off, the cancellations tend to pile up around one event. In 1995-96, school was called from Jan. 3-5 and 8-11 due to snow. In 1998-99, a similar event occurred with classes cancelled from Jan. 4-8 and 11-15.
The average amount of cancelled days has increased slightly in the last decade, from 5.4 days in the 90s to 6.1 days in the 2000s, including this year. However, there's no real trend year-to-year. In 1994-95 there was only one day called. It then bounded to 12 in 1995-96 and back down to four in 1996-97.
There has only been one year, 2001-02, with no days called due to weather.[[In-content Ad]]
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