Super Bowl 'partying' to delay school start

Whether the Steelers win or lose Sunday, Pittsburgh teachers and students will get a couple of extra hours of sleep on Monday.

Pittsburgh Public Schools announced Thursday -- three days before the Black and Gold take on the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII -- that the start of school on Monday will be delayed two hours.

"That's kind of messed up," said parent Latoya Taylor, who said she will lose two hours of work to stay with her children before they leave for school.

The district hopes the delay will cut down on absenteeism.

"We actually did this (three) years ago when they went to the Super Bowl," said Ebony Pugh, spokeswoman for the district. "People will be staying up late; there will be some partying."

Taylor, 24, of the North Side understands weather delays. The district has had two this month.

"It was cold. They had good reason," she said, as she picked up her two children from the Pittsburgh King PreK-8 school on the North Side.

Catholic schools that rely on transportation provided by Pittsburgh Public Schools will delay the start of classes by two hours on Monday, the Diocese of Pittsburgh said.

Pittsburgh Public Schools canceled classes three times this month because of the weather, and students were off Jan. 19 for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and Jan. 26-27, for organizational and training days.

"I wish to God we had that many days off when I was going to school," said Timothy Henderson, 27, of the North Side, as he waited for his children at Pittsburgh King. "We went through hail storms and blizzards."

More than 28,000 students attend 66 schools in the city district. The delay will affect about 4,600 students in the Catholic diocese.