How will foggy day school schedules affect Valley students' in-person learning time?

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- As fog starts to roll in this season, Valley school districts are working to make sure bus delays don't cut into students' limited in-person learning time.

Fog delays are never an easy decision for school districts.

"It's definitely the district's worst nightmare, and I can say that for most districts in the Valley," said Kings Canyon Unified transportation director Andrea Serrano.

At Kings Canyon Unified School District K-8 students are back in the classroom, but hours of in-person learning are still limited, so making the call for a fog delay isn't crystal clear.

"It starts pretty much around 4:30 to 5 o'clock in the morning assessing the visibility in all different areas around the district," said Serrano. "I contact the districts surrounding us and see how the fog is rolling in."

During a delay, instruction start time is pushed back to the time indicated by the delay.

"Usually, it's kind of like a tutoring session in the morning. If the buses come an hour and a half later, during that hour, the schools are open, the teachers are there," said Serrano.

Teachers and staff are still on hand for students that arrive, but in-person learning is pushed back.

"They go over some extra help, homework, things like that to make sure the bus riders aren't missing any instruction," continued Serrano.

As far as the impact to instructional minutes, the district factors in events like fog delays, so the shorter class day won't have a big impact on students' educational hours.