More Snow-Related Cancellations Could Spell Scheduling Trouble for Westwood Schools

School systems around the state, including Westwood Public Schools, are tackling the issue of making up for lost school days due to the overwhelming amount of snow this winter.

The last day of school for Westwood students was originally planned for Monday, June 20. Having the last day fall on a Monday allowed for the potential of additional cancellations to be made up during the remainder of that week.

But because Westwood has been forced to close school on three separate days this winter due to weather, the new final day of the school year is Friday, June 24. Superintendent John Antonucci said more snow days could lead to some issues.

“We are perilously close to jumping into the next week,” Antonucci said. “That’s when we run into problems.”

Going into the next week would cut into the starting dates for various camps and summer programs and summer school, Antonucci said.

Three ideas have been swirling around in the event of more school cancellations due to snow, he added. One idea is to cut into school vacation time, though Antonucci admitted that this would be difficult to pull off, as it would interfere with plans made by parents during those weeks.

Another idea is to have the students go to school on March 18. Currently, this has been set for a full day of professional development for teaching staff, but Antonucci said that the school may need to use it to make up for lost time.

The last alternative would be to have students come to school on Saturdays, as some communities around the Commonwealth are looking into. Antonucci said that he does not believe this has ever been done in Westwood and would serve as a last resort. However, if it were done, he explained that it would probably be a half day.

“There’s really not much we can do,” said Antonucci. “Right now, we aren’t exactly thrilled.”

As far as any extra costs accrued, Antonucci said that the school is in good shape, and explained that teachers are on a 185-day contract, so extra days would not matter much in terms of their pay. As for school buses, there have been no extra costs, because when the school is not in session, the buses don’t run.

In terms of maintenance, Antonucci said that the school system has had additional overtime costs to pay out for shoveling snow and tending to the school roofs. He said that crews began shoveling the roofs two Saturdays ago and they were made up of people currently employed with the school.

“The cost is within the confines of the budget; it is certainly more costly than a normal year,” said Antonucci.

However, due to the unbelievable amount of snow piling up at the schools, additional outside help was hired this past weekend to assist in snow removal. Those crews began work on Friday and helped with cleanup throughout the weekend.

According to Weather.gov, snow is in the forecast for the next two days. However, only about two inches is expected, so it should not have much of an effect on cancelling school in Westwood.