THE STATUS ORANGE weather warning “doesn’t change things for schools at this point” as they continue to make decisions on a case-by-case basis, the principals’ association has said.

Yesterday a number of schools closed around the country, the majority being in counties Carlow, Kilkenny, Cork, Wicklow, Tipperary and Limerick.

That was during a Status Yellow snow-ice warning, as well as a Status Yellow low temperature warning.

Met Éireann has since issued a Status Orange low temperature warning, which is to remain in place until 10am tomorrow.

Paul Crone, Director of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD), explained what it means for schools.

“All it means really is that that schools will just have to monitor the weather warnings overnight, and they will have to do a risk assessment on their own school premises and the access roads to the school overnight and in the morning to make sure that it is safe to open tomorrow.”

He told RTÉ’s News at One that principals in schools affected have been dealing with no power and no water. As of this morning, around 10,000 homes and premises nationwide were without power, while 17,000 were without water.

Some schools are mainly being inconvenienced by heavy snowfall and frost on the premises, which is making access difficult.

Many schools will be trying to get local contractors to maybe scrape the yard in the school … spreading salt, to try and make sure that they can make the school safe to open,” said Crone.

“A lot of them are having success in that, and some of them are not having success with that.”

Following a meeting to discuss the ongoing cold weather this morning, the National Emergency Coordination Group said some school transport services are not operating due to weather conditions on roads in affected counties.

“A decision to close a school is a matter for individual school management authorities around the country, as they are best placed to do this in light of local weather conditions, which vary significantly in regions,” the group said in a statement. 

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“Safety remains the foremost priority. If a school plans to close or where transport is affected, communications of all such decisions will issue locally between schools and parents or transport providers and parents.”

The group said the Department of Education, along with other Government departments, will continue to monitor developments with the weather and engage with key stakeholders.

Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland yesterday, Education Minister Norma Foley said there would not be national direction on whether schools should open or close, given the varied weather conditions in different areas.

She also said that schools would not be instructed to teach online if they did not have the resources, such as power or supplies at home, to do so.