WCYB— Icy roads, freezing temperatures and dangerous driving conditions are what school leaders need to consider when deciding whether or not to lose instructional time and cancel classes.

“We are doing our best to avoid remote learning days. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have learned that the best way to provide quality instruction is through face-to-face contact with teachers and students in the classroom,” Perrigan said.

Washington County Virginia Schools Superintendent Keith Perrigan says they have several options:

A two-hour delay, a remote learning day, or a snow day with no classes.

But now they face new challenges.

Because of the flooding earlier this year, we missed five days in all of our schools, and then we missed seven days in the Damascus area, so we didn’t even make it to the first semester, and yet we missed seven days of classes. Perrigan said.

They say some instruction is better than nothing and they must reach 990 hours of instruction each year.

“While we know that distance learning is not nearly as good as in-person learning, we wanted to make sure we had as much instruction as possible for those students who will be completing their courses in the first semester,” Perrigan said.

Across the state line in Unicoi County, Tennessee, John English, director of schools, tells News 5’s Yannia Nordelo they have built snow days into their schedule.

“We have 13 days of stock-outs. Once we get past those 13, we need to start making up days. Now that we’re within that window, we’re still taking advantage of the days that we already have built into our calendar,” English said.

Students in Unicoi County spent three weeks out of the classroom, two weeks because of the flooding and then a week of fall break.

Which now makes the decision to cancel school more difficult.

“We may have missed a lot of school for Helene, but if you look at the present, that doesn’t mean that we can now be careless or uncertain about our decisions,” said English.

Getting buses on the road is a big concern, as are the young drivers out there.

“I’m thinking about 15, 16, 17, 18-year-old drivers on the road, so we’re always erring on the side of caution with that,” English said.

Similar to Washington County Virginia, Unicoi County is offering distance learning to its students, but only as a last resort.

English adds that it’s important to protect yourself from the weather when the weather hits.

We can’t wait until it actually starts. “If you wait until it starts to snow or rain, then you may have waited too late,” English said.

School leaders say while their decision is difficult, their main goal will always be to ensure the safety of students and staff because no amount of instruction can restore a life.