FREDERICTON — If there's a lesson for school districts to learn about whether to declare a storm day, it's that most people will likely call it the wrong decision.
The school board in Halifax found itself on the receiving end of grief through social media Monday after cancelling classes because of a storm that failed to materialize by the end of the school day.
But school board spokesman Doug Hadley says they had information that the snow could start by 11 a.m. and officials were concerned about getting students home safely at the end of the day.
As governments and school boards wrestle with the right policies to address the weather, one consultant says they need to find ways to replace the lost instruction time when students are told to stay home.
Paul Bennett, director of Schoolhouse Consulting, says schools need to consider sending work home when storms are expected, or using the Internet to deliver e-learning programs.
David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, says Atlantic Canada leads the country for freezing rain and snowfalls of 10 centimetres or more, so it's no surprise the region gets more school storm days than other parts of the country.
