Superintendent addresses snow days

With the snowiest winter in at least half a decade hitting the region, the school department has faced decisions about when to cancel school and when to open the doors back up.

“We had almost two feet of snow, and again, I applaud the DPW and I continue to do that,” said Town Council President and school committee member Jim Letterie.

Letterie said one of the toughest things Superintendent of Schools Lisa Howard has to do is call a snow day for the district.

“There are so many considerations that have to be taken into place, but I think that she made the right call and I applaud her for that, it is a very difficult thing to do,” said Letterie. “I know that at the Gorman-Fort Banks School there was an issue with the snow… and there are limited places where you can put the snow… which was an issue there.”

Letterie did thank the school and town staff for addressing the snow issue at the school as best as they could.

“It’s not easy, however you have to use common sense,” said Howard. “As a superintendent my job is to keep kids safe at all times. That includes kids that have no place to go when school is closed, so anytime I can keep schools open for students, that is my primary goal.”

While Howard said the district strives to get the schools open for the students, she said she also respects parents’ rights to do what they feel is the best for the safety of their children.

“I’ve spoken to a number of parents, and if parents don’t feel, even if I open a school building and say kids can come to school today … if you as a parent make a decision that it is not safe for your child because of your situation in which your child might have to walk and climb over snow banks or walk a far distance to go to school, the nice thing is that it is always your right as a parent,” said Howard. “I think parents get nervous about kids getting penalized for not being in school. We value the communication we have with our principals and our administration and our parents.”

Howard encouraged parents to call the schools to make them aware of any situations regarding getting to school due to winter weather.