As light to moderate to heavy snow and winds swept Westport this morning, administrators, parents, students, and teachers questioned Superintendent Elliot. Landon’s decision to open school this morning. The district was one of only two in the county, perhaps the state, that opened at all, and the other, Stamford, announced its early dismissal hours before school began. Westport did not announce its early dismissal until around 8:45, so late that lunch was already prepared by the cafeteria staff. According to Patti McQuone, attendance secretary at Staples, a number of students never made it to school this morning and a number were pulled out early by worried parents. And McQuone said many more absences are likely: she has 100+ messages on her answering machine that she hasn’t had time to log.
Reached at his office in downtown Westport, Superintendent Landon stood by his call, explaining, “the weather forecast called for light snow and then heavy snow that would begin this evening. Therefore, I saw no reason to cancel school.”
By 10 this morning, Landon said he had received just one parent complaint about his decision, he said, and that was a mother concerned that her high school student’s drive to school wasn’t safe.
Transportation is a main concern in these weather conditions. According to Westport Police Captain Sam Arciola, several car accidents have already occurred, some on major roads. “Drive very slow, and avoid the roads if you can,” Arciola said.
Landon said he had reminded the mother that son did not need to drive at all. “School buses are the safest means of travel under any conditions, and under these, I would not let my own kid drive to school. I would have them take the bus.”
Dozens of interviews this morning, however, suggest that there is plenty of disagreement concerning Landon’s decision. So the question that echoed through Staples all morning was, why are we here?
Following are the responses to that question, from a variety of members of the Staples community.
Keara Cogdiol ‘15- “The school wants us to have breaks at the right times… students have already planned their vacations.”
Julia Lindwall ‘16- “We shouldn’t be in school. This is cray-cray.”
Jacob Meisel ‘13 via Facebook- “I see no reason for Westport schools to be open today. Everyone please stay safe. This is a call that may live on in history for awhile.”
Assistant Principal Patrick Micinilio: “I’m nervous for the students, I’m nervous for the staff, and I’m nervous for myself driving home to Trumbull in my nasty little Honda Accord.”
Danny Ewert ‘15- “Dr. Landon did not know the weather exactly, so he played it safe and kept us out of school in the summer.”
Jarret Liotta, Staples parent- “It’s an insane decision with no consideration given to people, especially staff who live many miles away. It’s also ridiculous to endanger the kids by having them come out in this weather. But at the end of the day we are here because the superintendent made another bad decision.”
John Ludy ‘15- “He (Dr. Landon), he does whatever he wants. I think he’s just trying to make the school year as short as possible.”
Anonymous- “Take the bus to school- everybody knew it was going to snow so why bother driving?”
Benjamin Foster ‘16, who was part of a courtyard snowball fight: “I’m just trying to make the best of the snow day I never had.”
Sean Driscoll ‘15- “ “I think it might have been a good idea to follow the lead of the rest of the state.”
Victor Kolbin ‘14- “ I don’t think we should have had a snow day, but a half day was the right choice.”
Seebo Manzo ‘14- “I think Dr. Landon took too long to make a decision.”
English teacher Heather Colletti-Houde-“I don’t think i could sleep at night knowing that i may have put someone in danger.”
