The Mercer Island School District board of directors will meet Sunday, Jan. 22, from 12:30 to 4 p.m. for the retreat which was scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 19.

The change is due to the extreme weather the area has been experiencing. Board President Janet Frohnmayer said the meeting starts at 12:30, but the first half hour is an executive session to discuss a possible real estate acquisition. The meeting will open to the public at 1 p.m. Discussion will continue on the facilities issue.

To make up for two snow days, school will be held Monday March 12, which was to be a non-school day, and Friday May 25, the day before Memorial Day Weekend said superintendent Gary Plano.

Tony Kuhn, the maintenance and operations manager for the district said there hasn’t been any problems with any of the schools as far as broken pipes or roof issues.

“Nothing as of yet, our fingers are crossed,” Kuhn said. “It’s the ice that’s the problem now. We can’t even get a shovel through it.”

The district’s head of transportation, Todd Kelsay, said the district’s buses are well-maintained and ready to roll Friday if there is school.

“I’m less worried about the equipment than the freezing ice that doesn’t seem to be letting up,” Kelsay said. He said most of the buses have auto-chains, where the driver flips a button and a mechanism is deployed that throws chains on the rear wheels. The buses that don’t have auto-chains are equipped with regular chains.