Butler Area School District students stayed home with classwork Wednesday in lieu of attending school.

The district designated the day as a test-run flexible instructional day (FID) — an emergency stay-at-home day to be used when the district runs out of built-in snow days. This school year is the first year Pennsylvania's Department of Education is allowing school districts to employ the program. Some pilot districts, such as the Seneca Valley School District, used them in past years.

Julie Hopp, the director of curriculum for Butler schools, coordinated Wednesday's FID. Sitting in the administration building Wednesday, she said the day's experiment was meant to garner feedback.

“Our task is finding whether this is right for our community,” Hopp said.

They're prepared if the answer is a resounding “no.”

“If the results are that this is a terrible idea, we won't do it,” Hopp said. “We want to hear what people really think.”

This is an excerpt from a larger article that will appear in Friday's Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read more.