Bitter cold has gripped the region, and that means late nights and early mornings for area superintendents.

Even when there is no snow on the ground, local districts are mindful of what an extra few hours means in single-digit temperatures.

Most area school districts had a two-hour delay Tuesday and will face similar decisions in the face of 30 mph wind gusts through the rest of the day and early Friday.

Lehighton starts school at 7:25 a.m. According to AccuWeather, the temperature at that time in Lehighton was 17 degrees Thursday, but it felt like only 3 degrees due to the wind chill.

“It’s more than just the temperature, it’s also the wind chill,” Lehighton Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said. “Those few extra hours can help, even if the sun pops out just for a little bit.”

Tamaqua was the only local district not to close on Thursday, instead opting to stick with a two-hour delay.

At Lehighton, there are about 10-12 people who play into the final decision on whether to delay or close school. A lot of input also comes from staff at George’s Transportation Company, which runs the buses for the district.

“They are looking at things like their tire pressure and how their buses are running,” Cleaver said. “We’re very fortunate here that Leon does such a great job for us.”

It’s not an illusion when it seems like most districts arrive at the same decision. Both Cleaver and Panther Valley Superintendent Dennis Kergick said local districts talk to each other at length when the possibility of a delay or closure is imminent.

“We monitor what other school districts are doing and communicate regularly in the early morning hours,” Kergick said. “Safety of our students and staff is always our main objective. When we see single-digit temperatures and extremes in the wind-chill factor we always err on the side of caution.”

Trying to coordinate schedules among school districts is important because of the number of shared programs they implement.

“Many of our specialized programs in Carbon County are shared,” Cleaver said. “We may have kids going to Jim Thorpe or Panther Valley or Palmerton depending on what the program is and vice versa. So we do try to coordinate as well as we can. It’s not always an option though. Jim Thorpe has some outlying areas that make it difficult for them even when the rest of us are in school, but those are things we look at.”

Discussions usually start the night before and pick up again around 3:30 or 4 a.m. the morning of a winter event.

“The decision making process entails communication with our respective building and grounds personnel as well as our transportation coordinators and providers,” Kergick said. “In some cases there may be heating issues in buildings or the buses may have fuel issues.”

Lunch periods are adjusted with a delay or an early dismissal, but in both cases all meals are served.

“We work with our food service company on that, but it’s very important for us that all of the students receive lunch,” Cleaver said.

Districts are already looking ahead to Friday morning. While less than an inch of snow was forecast for today, wind gusts are predicted to be around 30 mph for much of the day and evening.