Snow Day.

For most students, it’s provides a sense of relief to hear those words. A free day off thanks to Mother Nature. However, sometimes the weather doesn’t always follow the patterns we expect.

Sometimes, if the winter is mild enough, there can be a year where no snow days are used at all. At NPSD, those days are typically given back as an extra long Memorial Day break, depending on how many were used.

When the winter is so treacherous, all the available snow days might used. There are systems in place that make the final verdict on whether or not the district will cancel school for a snow day.
The system of snow days is entirely based on timing. How fast the roads can be cleared and if the conditions are safe enough are two primary factors. For the roads, it’s based on how fast the clean up crew can salt and plow the snow out of the roads. It’s also important for the school janitors to clean up the entrances and sidewalks of the school.

Dr. David Miceli, NPSD Superintendent of Schools,  said: “There’s a greater likelihood of being able to have a delayed opening, giving the Department of Public Works time to clean up the roads, and then our maintenance and custodial staff time to clean up the schools.”

While they have been very few, early dismissals have happened before. The primary reason this decision is made is for safety reasons. Not everyone in the school building lives in New Providence.  Some teachers commute and hour or more to the school. An early dismissal will usually be called if the road conditions are dangerous to drive on before the time of 2:45.

“So then we have to be mindful of them getting home safe too. So if we believe that conditions are going to be between like three and five o’clock, that it can put people in harm’s way, then we’re going to have an early dismissal to try to get ahead of that so that everybody can get home safely before the conditions get too poor,” said Miceli.

This year, if we do not use any snow days, which seems likely, we will have an extended Memorial Day break.  Potentially, we could have the Thursday and Friday before Memorial Day off, as well as the Tuesday after.