How the Public Schools Branch determines a snow day

The Public Schools Branch says it was fielding a lot of questions on Wednesday after itsdecisionto close all the Island schools particularly from parents in the Charlottetown area wondering why the closure was necessary.

This is the second day in a row that P.E.I. schools were closed after approximately 23 centimetres of snow fell during a storm on Tuesday.

The decision on Wednesday was based on the secondary andtertiaryroad conditions in all three counties, saidDaveGillis, leader of corporate services with the Public Schools Branch.

"Some had only one path through them," he said."None had been salted and sanded, nor was there any expectation that they would be or could be in time for us to proceed with school today, even in a delayed capacity."

'Really surprised'

"I was really surprised,"said parentAlidaLove. "My husband and I kind of said 'I can't believe it.'"

She has two kids who live within walking distance oftheir Charlottetown-area schools.

"I always ask myself, why can't they keep schools open in the Colonel Gray family of schools where students can walk.And there are those who might choose to drive their student to school, or choose 'no, I'm not going out on the roads today.'"

Love said that she hasreached out to the Public Schools Branch to find out what the alternatives are to closing all the schools.

Opening some of the schools can be challenging,Gillissaid, as that could haveteachers who live in rural areasdrivingin unsafe conditions or unable to make it in leaving those open schools understaffed.

"That would be our primary concern, is our ability to ensure we have adequate supervision and support for the students that did show up on such a day," he said.

"Furthermore, I wouldn't want the fact school being opened to be a factor that would influence parents to take unadvised risks."

He also said "significant percentages" ofstudents at schools in the Charlottetown area come from outside the city.

"These are students living on these secondary and tertiary roads that were advised by T.I.E. [The Department of Transportation, Infrastructure and Energy] that were not in great shape, nor would they be."

Yearly reviews

Gillissaid the branch gathers information from different sources tomake an informed decision about potential closures.

They look at factors like current and predicted weather conditions, mechanical and power issues at the schools and Islandroad conditions.

"We've got intricate details with regards to the forecast.We're in touch with meteorologists directly, voice to voice," said Gillis.

"We're in radio and telephone communication with road shift-supervisors and the plow operators.So the quality and quantity of information we're receiving now is the biggest difference I've seen over the past 15 years."

Gillissaid the branch does review its policies on a yearly basis.

After receivingseveral calls from parents on Wednesday, Gillis said, the Public Schools branch will take a closer look at how it handles closures but said safety will always come first.

"Safety basically trumps everything in our world," Gillissaid.

"We can deal with the 25 phone calls of the unhappy people that think we made the wrong call. But we can't deal with the one phone call that deals with some tragedy happening as a result of a call we made."

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