AUBURN — Auburn schools may have the option of starting school one or two hours later in bad weather, instead of calling off classes.

Late starts on stormy days could begin after Jan. 22, after briefing the Auburn School Committee on Jan. 2 and notifying parents, Superintendent Katy Grondin said.

Auburn discussed late starts on bad weather days last year after Lewiston Superintendent Bill Webster asked the Lewiston School Committee about it. The Lewiston committee rejected the idea, and wanted school to start on time or not at all.

Auburn was more receptive. A survey this past March showed parents preferred the late start when possible, as opposed to school cancellation, Grondin said.

“We’re noticing a trend in more delayed starts. Other schools are doing it, Turner, Leeds, Oxford, Poland,” Grondin said. “Tentatively, we’re looking at starting it after Jan. 22. We want to make sure people get a letter that will go home and robo calls. We want parents to understand what this means.”

The normal times for school to begin are: elementary grades, 8:20 a.m.; middle school, 7:30 a.m.; and the high school, 7:45 a.m.

If school begins one or two hours later on stormy days, the regular schedule would be followed, but lessons would be shortened, Grondin said.

Late starts would only be used in certain conditions, she said. For instance, in a storm such as this past Thursday’s when the snow fell all day, a snow day would taken. If the storm let up or stopped much earlier, school could start later.

There is an educational advantage to late starts over snow days, Grondin said. A shortened day does not have to be made up; a snow day does. When students have to attend an extra day in June, they are less focused, she said.

Currently, Lewiston and Auburn schools concur on whether to call a snow day or not, after discussing safety conditions in a predawn phone call.

Webster said he does not intend to ask the Lewiston School Committee to reconsider late starts as an alternative to snow days. “We talked about it last year. The Lewiston board was quite clear it was not interested.”