FACTORYVILLE – Schools all across northeastern and central Pennsylvania have had several closings and delays this year already, with a large part of winter still to go.
It’s something just about every kid looks forward to seeing and a call every superintendent struggles to make: snow days.
And this year, there’s been more than a fair share of them to go around.
"It has been, every year is a challenge regardless of how much time we have to take off, but this year has been more challenging than others, said Lackawanna Trail School District Superintendent Matthew Rakauskas.
Superintendent Rakauskas says students in his district have used up six days so far and had four late starts.
But third grade teacher Mr. Peters and many others are hoping to now get back on track.
“We’re not going to have snow days every day, we’re hopefully we’re back to school now and we keep going through,” said Peters to his third grade students.
Students hurried through classes at the high school on a two-hour delay schedule thanks to yet again, extreme cold. But Vo-Tech students like Jacob Richmond found themselves stranded.
"Vo-Tech was closed and we had school so you just stay here usually, we’ll watch a movie if there’s no classes coming in," said the 10th grade student.
With this latest snow day, seniors here at Lackawanna Trail now have their graduation date pushed back, but that’s not the only problem winter weather has caused for students this year.
"It’s tough, the kids are distracted, and with all the snow days and the changes in schedules coming in late, leaving early, it’s hard for them to focus," said Lackawanna Trail High School Librarian Kelly Hopkins.
Hopkins says teachers are rushing to squeeze in projects and prep students for mid-terms. Exams were pushed back due to winter weather too.
But it’s all consequences the district is willing to pay to keep kids safe through the winter.
"It’s likely this early in the school year there will be more challenges that come with weather and we’ll approach them one by one and always keep student safety as a priority," said Rakauskas.
School officials at Lackawanna Trail say their graduation date is now set at June 13, one week later than originally planned. The last day of school would be on June 9, but that could all change if Mother Nature starts sending more harsh weather our way.