Schools

Two School Days Lost, a Frigid Two Months Lay Ahead

Supt. James Agostine says Monroe can handle two lost school days, but feels uneasy heading into chilly January and February.

A snowstorm wiped out the second school day in the past week Tuesday, pushing the end of the school year back to June 13. Supt. of Schools James Agostine, who has the ultimate say on whether or not to open Monroe's schools, says some storms are easy calls, but the last two were "tough decisions" with "a lot of handwringing".

Every day that a significant storm is broadcast, Agostine wakes up at 4 a.m. and calls the Department of Public Works and police to assess the conditions of Monroe's roads. Then he joins a conference call with other area superintendents and a weather consultant for 30 to 45 minutes, until he's ready to make a decision and inform the bus company.

When asked about making the decision to cancel a school day during a telephone interview Wednesday, Agostine said, "It's never easy. I know it's an inconvenience to families sometimes. When we have a delay and cancelation, we always have to worry about our student drivers and of buses being hit and stuck."

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The State of Connecticut requires a 182-day school year that cannot go beyond June 30, according to Agostine.

"So if we start approaching that last week of June, then we would start getting nervous and looking for ways to fix that," he said.

Find out what's happening in Monroewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

'It Is What It Is'

When voting on the district calendar before the start of the academic year, the Board of Education had made February vacation a long weekend, rather than a full week off as it was in the past, to build in the flexibility needed to accommodate any lost school days.

"Both of these snow days were hard decisions to make," Agostine said. "Nobody wants to lose a school day, but you know January and February could be really, really tough months, so having two under your belt makes me a little nervous at this point."

Though two snowstorms have led to school closings this month, it was only a couple winters ago that the region was buried under several feet of snow and roofs were caving in around town. Then-superintendent Colleen Palmer had to hire crews to shovel snow off school roofs that year.

"Compared to the recent past, it's very good," Agostine said of the weather. "It makes me a little nervous to have two days lost before Christmas, but it is what it is."


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