Regardless of which team prevails in the Super Bowl, students in the Pittsburgh Public Schools might consider themselves winners.

The school district yesterday said it will operate on a two-hour delay Monday, not because of ice, snow or freezing temperatures but because folks will be up late Sunday watching the big game.

Superintendent Mark Roosevelt is no fan of delaying or canceling school, even in bad weather.

But Mr. Roosevelt said there's no reason to ignore the Super Bowl's potential impact on school operations. Asked whether he feared student and staff absenteeism, he said he hoped the delay would help to mitigate any problem.

The district, which also operated on a two-hour delay the day after the Steelers won Super Bowl XL three years ago, called the delay a safety precaution. Chief of Staff Lisa Fischetti said bus companies will have extra time to get vehicles on the road and to children waiting at bus stops.

Generally, two-hour weather delays are for students, not teachers and support staff, Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers President John Tarka said. But he noted that Monday's delay will be for PFT-represented employees too.

According to the union Web site, the PFT workers' inclusion in Monday's delay is a "makeup" for the inconvenience some experienced Dec. 22, when the district initially called a two-hour weather delay and then canceled school. By that time, the union said, many employees were already at work.

The Super Bowl delay appears to be a 'Burgh thing. The Phoenix Union, Glendale Union and Tempe Union districts in Arizona said they will operate on their usual schedules, though a Glendale employee noted the game starts at 4:38 p.m. for viewers in the Mountain Time Zone, two hours earlier than in Pittsburgh.

First Published: January 30, 2009, 5:00 a.m.