Whenever you wake up to a 2 hour delay or a cancellation, do you ever think of what comes behind that decision? Most think it seems like it’s just a flip of a coin or a simple “eenie miney moe” to choose if a delay or cancellation is appropriate. But surprisingly, it’s not that easy.

According to Carlisle Area School District Superintendent John Friend, “Between 4:45 through 4:50 we send out the ‘email blasts’ and put the news on T.V. and radio stations.” But before that, there are several people and events involved in this decision.

Michael Hurley, the CASD Director of Transportation/Safety, said that officials “begin traveling district roadways between 4:00 and 4:30 a.m.” The official decision is made by 5:15 a.m.

This decision is not just made by Carlisle employees but includes other school districts as well.

Friend said the schools bordering around us are who officials contact to make a final decision. These include Big Spring, South Middleton and Cumberland Valley.

“Distance between schools has decreased. We talk to way more people and the weather forecast itself is getting better. We never used to delay for temperature reasons until recently,” said Friend.

The technology and things are getting easier for the superintendents and other ones involved to see through these decisions. The representatives from different schools use a group chat service to discuss impending weather conditions and make decisions.

After a decision is made, Stephanie Douglas, the district’s Director of Digital Learning and Technology, sends out a text message, emails, and voicemails to parents.

“I have pre-recorded voice messages from Mr. Friend along with emails and text message verbiage that I can send out quickly once a decision has been made for a delay or school cancellation.  Depending on the time of the decision, I can send out the message to all students, staff, and outside contractors all at the same time.” said Douglas.

Friend also accesses local news station listings through a pass code.

He’s the one who deals with the calls and emails people back when they’re concerned of the safety hazards.

Hurley said, “Our decision to delay, or cancel school is ultimately based on our safety concerns for students that ride school buses, walk and/or drive to school.”

Some people wonder how our school makeup days are chosen. This is actually established when the school calendar is created.

Friend said, “Beforehand, the calendar has a snowflake for a possible school day.”

CASD is now looking into using eDays for snow make up days. The district applied to use these eDays in the first week of January; despite the state’s assurance that they would notify districts in 45 days after receiving the application, the district is still waiting to hear from the Pennsylvania Department of Education regarding its application to do so.

To this end, the make up for the most recent snow day has yet to be decided. Check back here for updates when that decision has been made.