Winter storm closes schools
By Kathy Thomson
A winter storm moved through the area last week, dropping temperatures, cold rain, sleet, and snow.
On Monday, Feb. 3, the high was 73 degrees, while thermometers struggled to reach 37 degrees just one day later.
Both Albany and Moran school officials cancelled Wednesday classes even before students were released on Tuesday afternoon due to the forecasts of dangerous driving conditions before morning.
The weathermen were correct, and before midnight the air had chilled below freezing and at least one snow plow was actively working to remove sleet and ice from Main Street. Officially one inch of snow was recorded in Albany on Tuesday.
The precipitation on Wednesday was primarily snow, adding 2.3 inches to the total, although many locations reported more accumulation.
Wednesday’s high temperature was 28 degrees, leaving driving conditions dangerous and school children with a second vacation day.
School Make Up Days
Albany ISD will need to utilize bad weather days to make up for the missed instructional time to comply with state requirements.
“The 2019-2020 school calendar allowed for extra minutes beyond the TEA minimum standard,” said superintendent Jonathan Scott. “However, the extra minutes are not enough to account for the two days we missed last week due to the weather. Therefore, we will need to utilize one of our bad weather days that was built in our calendar for events like this.”
Good Friday, April 10, and Easter Monday, April 13, were the two designated bad weather days.
Contingent on board approval, April 10 will be changed from a campus-wide holiday to a student holiday and staff comp day. April 13 will change from a staff comp day to a regular school day.
“All students and staff will attend a regular day of school to make up for one of the days missed,” said Scott. “The high school had fewer minutes than the elementary, so they must make up extra minutes (in addition to the April 13 school day required by both campuses).”
Students at the secondary campus will start school at 7:30 a.m., which is 30 minutes earlier than normal, on March 17, 18, 24, and 25.
“This time is for every student,” said Scott. “I hope that we will not need to use the other bad weather day that’s on our calendar, but we will adjust if needed.”
The school bus schedule will not be affected, according to Scott.
“The buses already arrive before 7:30 a.m.,” he said.
Snow totals
Wade Montgomery said that he had around three inches by the Newell Ranch entrance about six miles west of town.
“I measured five inches of snow on top of Nine Mile Hill,” Montgomery said. “The change in elevation made a lot of difference. We also had around one-half to three-quarters of an inch of ice and sleet first.”
John Tate, retired from the NRCS and actively managing a couple of ranches in Shackelford County, said that he had between four or five tenths of an inch of rain and sleet mix before the snow.
“The best I can tell, we had four and a half inches of snow in town, and around six inches further north and east,” Tate said. “At the locations I checked, snow was between four and a half and five inches. People at Breckenridge told me they had over six inches.”
