Snow Jobbed: North Shore Schools Close As 'Major' Storm Turns Into Dud

SALEM, MA — Steve Zrike likely had the same reaction as many of his fellow superintendents across the state when he woke up early Tuesday morning seeking validation on the decision to cancel school ahead of what had been forecast to be one of the biggest snowstorms in two years only to find out that the forecast had changed significantly in the hours since that call was made.

"I was shocked in the middle of the night when I saw on my phone the way the forecast shifted," the Salem Public Schools superintendent told Patch. "I'm sure everyone would have wanted this one back. But all indications were that it was going to be a significant snowstorm and we wanted to let people know (about school)."

While some southern parts of the state felt the impact of the type of major winter storm that had been predicted for days — easily validating the call to cancel school in those districts — that was not the case in the majority of districts north of the Mass Pike that will now have to make up a classroom day in June for a day when accumulations were mostly more suited for a broom than a snow plow.

And while superintendents understand these types of snow days — perhaps this one, in particular — will spur a strong amount of second-guessing, they say the desire to plan with other municipal departments, coordinate with neighboring school districts, and allow parents, teachers and students sufficient notice ahead of a no-school day are all factors in the trend to try to cancel earlier rather than later.

"The storm changed course pretty quickly," Danvers Superintendent Dan Bauer told Patch. "The call went out pretty early. It's a big decision because you are balancing a lot of things. But the biggest thing is safety."

"The decision to cancel school is not one that I take lightly," Peabody Superintendent Josh Vadala told Patch. "I am cognizant of the delicate balance between early notification to give families adequate time to plan for child care and waiting until we have the right information regarding the weather conditions.

"Unfortunately with this storm, there seemed to be universal agreement with all the reports in our geographic region when area schools began to cancel. Parking bans were issued, trash collection was canceled and the governor told non-essential employees to stay home. At that point, the decision was made to cancel school so families had enough time to plan."

Bauer, Vadala and Zrike all said that given all the information they and their fellow superintendents had at the time Monday morning and afternoon the right decision was made to cancel school even if it may not have looked that way 24 hours later.

"This is an interesting one because it was such a miss on the part of the weather forecasting," Zrike said. "Families do want to know as soon as possible. With this one, even if I had waited until later in the night it would have been the same call because the forecast still hadn't shifted as much as it did (overnight)."

Salem was among the first districts to make the call on Monday at about 10:30 a.m. Szrike said that was not in a rush to be a frontrunner in the cancellation derby, but because he talked with the mayor, DPW director and harbormaster early in the morning and everyone was in alignment about what was being expected with snow — 9 to 12 inches at the time — as well as the associated flooding concerns after the Witch City was hit hard with tidal surge last month.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu soon followed with a school cancellation for that city and by the middle of the afternoon dozens and dozens of other districts across eastern and central Massachusetts joined the snow day party.

"It would have felt different if we were the only people who didn't have school," Zrike said. "Then I really would have been kicking myself. The fact that everybody canceled, and I was able to let our folks know as early as possible, is a good thing."

Bauer made the call early in the afternoon at about the same time as Beverly, Marblehead and Peabody in neighboring communities.

"You make the best decision you can make at the time," Bauer said. "Ideally, we try to put a window on it and call it by 6 in the morning. But this one had been building since the weekend and it was projected to hit right at 7 (a.m.) so there would have been no way to clear it up and get the kids to school safely."

One city that held off on the snow day, for unique reasons, was Newton where its public schools were closed for 11 days during the teachers' strike earlier this month. That those students were in school on Tuesday means one less day they will have to make up during a school vacation or Saturday later this school year.

Schools, of course, weren't the only ones to jump the gun with many cities and towns declaring snow parking emergencies that were later rescinded, and sending city and town hall functions remote for the day.

Because of state rules put in place to prevent schools from staying in remote and hybrid education when Gov. Charlie Baker was trying to open classrooms as the COVID-19 health crisis waned in 2021, however, remote education no longer counts toward the 180 days of learning required for a school year, so going virtual is not an option for superintendents.

The only option is to cancel for the day.

"When you make that decision it's really hard to unmake that decision," Bauer said.

Zrike allowed he is "sure there will be some additional thinking the next type the meteorologists hype up a big storm" but said that the conclusion to call off school — and call off school so early — was the logical one given everything that everyone knew before most everything changed so dramatically.

"It's nice we all went down on this one together," he said. "We all misread this one collectively — the school superintendents and the meteorologists."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)