Students in Washington County enjoyed an extension to their winter
break as school districts around the county kept their doors closed
for another day due to road conditions.
Among the districts closed Monday for a snow day were those in the
Bartlesville, Dewey, Copan and Caney Valley Public Schools Districts.
Bartlesville Public Schools Community Relations Coordinator David
Austin said BPS Superintendent Gary Quinn — accompanied by the
district’s transportation supervisor — drove the bus routes and
determined the road conditions to be unsafe.
“It’s always a case of does it look like it’s going to be potentially
hazardous,“ said Austin. “Today looked like it was going to be
potentially hazardous.”
Austin said the condition of neighborhood streets, which are typically
in worse condition than the main arterial roads, will factor into
whether the buses will run.
“That will help make the determination, because those buses have to go
into those neighborhoods,” he said.
Many neighborhood roads within Bartlesville city limits are still
blanketed with one-and-a-half to two inches of snow from Saturday
night’s snowfall.
Austin said Quinn will drive the streets and speak with city officials
and other area school superintendents to make a determination Monday
on whether to open the schools Tuesday.
“We are hopeful for tomorrow, but we will not be able to make a
determination until this afternoon,” said Austin.
Monday’s school closing will use one of five snow days built into the
Bartlesville and Copan school districts’ schedules.
Dewey Public Schools Superintendent Paul Smith said Monday’s school
closing will use one of district’s three snow days.
He said his district is taking advantage of a state law passed last
April that gave school districts the ability to choose to calculate
the year in days or hours. The state mandates schools to be in session
180 days or 1080 hours a year.
Smith said since the district has been running its school days longer,
he believes with the flexibility provided by the law the district will
fulfill its time requirements despite the snow days.
“We have got more than the required minutes per day so that will allow
us a little bit of extra time — maybe two or three extra days,” said
Smith.
