Westport Public Schools were open on time today, after a 12-day hiatus due to a professional development day, winter break, and 2 blizzard-related cancellations.
It did not go well. A dawn snowfall made driving and walking treacherous.
Superintendent of schools Thomas Scarice has done something rare in the school cancellation/delay/carry-on-as-usual world: He has taken ownership for the decision.
And apologized. He says:
Dear Parents and Guardians,
I regret not calling for a delay, and the resulting difficulty and hardship this caused many of our families, faculty, and staff.
While I rely on professional guidance to inform these early-morning calls, the responsibility is mine.
This morning’s drive to school. (Photo/Dayle Brownstein)
Some families have asked what information I had at 4 a.m., so I want to share it to give context of the decision-making, not to offer excuses. The responsibility for the call is mine.
At that time, our consulting meteorologist indicated that data suggested the likelihood of a coating to 1 inch of snow along the shoreline, which led to regular openings for all neighboring shoreline districts.
In addition, Public Works expressed a high level of confidence that roads had been heavily salted over the past several days and crews were prepared. Based on this information, I made the decision to start on time.
Superintendent of schools Thomas Scarice.
In hindsight, a 2-hour delay would have been the better decision for students, staff and families. I am sorry for the difficulty this caused, particularly for those who experienced challenging travel conditions, and for the buses that missed stops or ran excessively late.
I want to thank everyone who stepped in across the district to support student arrivals and classrooms as faculty arrived. I also want to thank our buildings and maintenance teams for clearing and salting our lots, and our bus drivers for their professionalism this morning.
Thank you for your patience, your partnership, and for taking care on the roads today.
I applaud the honesty and accountability! Quite rare these days. How refreshing.
Refreshing acceptance of responsibility.
I drove my daughter this morning since I felt bad leaving her at the end of the street for 20 minutes in a snowstorm waiting for the bus. It was pretty bad out there.
While looking back it’s easy to make the snow call, this seems to be a case of bad luck and real desire to get kids back out of the house! Appreciate the honesty and mea culpa from the Superintendent!
Very much appreciated (and indeed, rare and refreshing to see someone taking accountability). The lack of a delay this morning was a bad call. It was unsafe for everyone on the road. It made it difficult for public works to do their jobs and put many people at risk, unnecessarily. Everyone makes mistakes, not everyone apologizes when they do.
I don’t look at this as “ refreshing.” Suppose a student was killed or had a significant injury. Westport would have had a massive multi million dollar lawsuit! You should be suspended for three days and docked three days of pay! I have zero sympathy!
Take a breath, Jack.
Find a hobby jack.
This was a difficult call to make. An inch of snow doesn’t usually cause excessive danger on the roads. In his role he is likely to have critics either way. It was a mistake, and he owned it.
I think Dr. Scarice is a classy man. And I think parents who didn’t feel safe having their kids on the road had the option of keeping them home until they felt the roads were safer.
We had a Superintendent fired for a bus issue.To be fair, the issue lasted two weeks. He needs to be suspended, maybe not for three days, but at least one day with his pay docked for that day.