Another Kind of Winter Storm
First Selectman Tim Herbst wants to know why schools were not delayed Wednesday morning.
First Selectman Tim Herbst and School Superintendent Ralph Iassogna didn't talk to each other Wednesday morning about delaying school, but there was still disagreement about it.
Herbst said Thursday that he spoke with WICC Wednesday morning to address parents irate that schools started on time despite slick roads. Herbst was attending the 79th conference of mayors in Washington D.C. at the time.
Meanwhile, Iassogna said he decided to open schools on schedule after following "usual procedures." He made his decision at 5:15 a.m., and said he couldn't take it back.
"Once you make the call," changing it is too disruptive to parents, Iassogna said.
Herbst, who had blasted Iassogna for closing Trumbull High School during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, said Thursday that Iassogna should have delayed like neighboring Monroe and Shelton districts.
But Iassogna said he looked at other districts including Fairfield, Stratford, Bridgeport and Westport, who did not delay, and contacted school maintenance, three other superintendents, the Police Department and the Public Works Department before reaching his decision.
"It's a very complex and difficult decision for a superintendent," he said, adding that he has no dispute with Herbst. "It was my decision and I take full responsibility for the call."
In the end, Public Works Director John Marsilio said that Wednesday “was a unique situation.”
Iassogna’s Wednesday started at 4:23 a.m. when he began making phone calls to the Police and the Highway departments, the school Plant Administrator Don Walsh and to superintendents in nearby communities. He concluded that the roads and school parking lots were sufficiently cleared and sanded and left openings at normal times.
Threatening the opening was a minor accident in which a bus slid into a snow bank. But the bus was traveling slowly and the driver warned the students, who were more startled than scared. Soon, a Highway Department truck arrived to spread sand and assist the driver in getting the bus on its way.
Marsilio said road conditions at 4:30 a.m. were satisfactory. Six sanders were working soon after 5 a.m. when a freezing rain began.
“Shortly after 6:00 it became evident that six trucks were not enough,” and once full crews manning all 26 – 28 trucks went out, but were catching up by then, he said, adding that “sanding all of Trumbull's roads takes two to three hours, and maybe as long as four.”
This follows the Saturday closing of Trumbull High School that canceled some sports events and practice for three of the state's best marching groups – the percussion group and two color guard units. All had scheduled practice to prepare for competitions beginning in the next few weeks, and were forced to go elsewhere.
Herbst had said he learned of the closure late Friday. Four days later, Herbst e-mailed Iassogna, stating, in part, “you cited lack of funding in your budget to cover custodial overtime as the primary reason. As a lifelong Trumbull resident and product of the Trumbull Public School System, I would like to take this opportunity to voice my disappointment and displeasure with your decision.”
He continued “your statement to the public that there is not adequate funding to cover the costs of custodial overtime is completely false,” and continued, stating that Iassogna has “absolute discretion to transfer money from accounts.”
But Iassogna clarified his stance at the Board of Education meeting. He said the appropriate High School personnel had been notified on Nov. 16 that the school was to be closed for two long weekends – Presidents Day and the Martin Luther King holiday. Both are long winter weekends when closing the schools, turning down thermostats and not lighting the buildings conserve far more than custodial salaries.
Some residents and high school parents were not aware of this arrangement.
At the Wednesday Board meeting Cindy Katske, a color guard parent read what she called a “personal statement.” In her statement, Katske was unaware that instructions had been given to administrators at the school. She told an audience of about 30 people, one-third band or color guard parents, that she was speaking only for herself, and not representing any group.
“I can understand the closing for a long weekend in this difficult budget year,” she said.
According to Katkse, the closing disrupted three outstanding programs. Parents should be notified in sufficient time to make other arrangements, and the closing “demonstrates that the pressure on the budget can have negative affects across the system,” she added.
She also asked that the budget “be sufficient to meet the needs of all students.”
In This article
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Trumbull High School
72 Strobel Rd, Trumbull, CT -
Trumbull Police headquarters
158 Edison Rd, Trumbull, CT
Cindy Penkoff
1:11 pm on Friday, January 21, 2011
I must say I take exception to the statement from the Superintendent that to reverse his decision would have been disruptive to the parents. Most parents would be less disrupted knowing that their children are traveling safely to their destination. According to my son, they slid nearly the entire way to school and could not pick up the last stop on their route as the bus was going sideways down the street and couldn't make it to the students house. He did not make it to the school until 8:15 missing his first class.
The number of emails, text messages and calls I got on this issue makes it very clear that there are a lot of parents that were disappointed in the handling of this and the Superintendent should consider himself lucky that there were no accidents, as the conditions were certainly ripe for them.
Disrupt us next time. Putting my child or any other child at risk is unacceptable.
Bella
4:50 pm on Friday, January 21, 2011
I take Mr. Iassogna at his word that he made the best decision he could given the information he had available at the time. He has always taken a cautious approach, so much so that he has gotten flak from parents in the past for closing schools in anticipation of storms that didn't turn out as badly as predicted.
The bigger question to me here is why did the First Selectman go to the media with his concerns, rather than communicating privately with the Superintendent about a day-to-day decision which is completely within the Superintendent's realm of responsibilities? Also, why didn't the Town provide more trucks to sand the roads at the outset for what was predicted to be an icy morning?
I don't blame parents for being upset about what turned out to be a "bad" call. But pointing fingers and making accusations about who does and doesn't have the kids' best interest at heart is really beneath us.
Roy Fuchs
9:40 pm on Friday, January 21, 2011
Elena - As the co-author of the article, let me answer your question about why there were not more sanders out. Six trucks were sufficient for the overnight road conditions, and even those at 4:30, when Dr. Iassogna began gathering information. The freezing rain began later. By the time the Highway department was aware of the changed conditions the decision to start the buses had been made. And as soon as the Highway department could put more trucks on the road it did so, but they knew they were playing catch up even then.
raymond jaroszewski
4:59 pm on Friday, January 21, 2011
I think the s Superintendent had a difficult decisiuon to make , weather conditions were changeing minute by minute and road conditions varied block by block. I think here is a situation where any decision would have meet with disapproval by somebody.
It seems like much of the criticism of Mr. Iassogna is politically motivated.
Cindy Penkoff
5:07 pm on Friday, January 21, 2011
Ray,
I certainly hope that your are not referring to me since I am a parent with a child that was put in a dangerous situation...
When you question a snow day where the snow doesn't start until 2pm in the afternoon and we are told that when childrens safety is a concern you can't be too safe and then this happens? Trust me politics has nothing to do with it.
If that is your parameter, stick to it. "Better to be safe than sorry"; as long as my childs safety is a concern, I will continue to question a decision such as this.
Bella
9:49 pm on Friday, January 21, 2011
It is obvious from Roy's explanation that the weather situation that morning was fluid (no pun intended). From what I recall, Trumbull was probably right on the border between the communities that received mostly rain & those that experienced an ice event. I don't see the point of continuing to parse this decision. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say. Of course we all disagree with the decision now. But there is no doubt in my mind that the Superintendent would have delayed the schools had he known how the conditions were to develop. And as parents, let's not forget that we have the ultimate say in whether we let our kids walk/drive/take the bus to school on a morning when the conditions are clearly hazardous.
Cindy Penkoff
2:09 pm on Thursday, January 27, 2011
Roy, you should have spoken to some of the bus drivers to get the other side of this story. They knew when they showed up for work. It is never too late to correct a bad call. At that point school should have been delayed regardless of the inconvenience to parents or staff.
Roy Fuchs
2:59 pm on Thursday, January 27, 2011
Cindy - The drivers may well have been able to provide additional information. And because, as Mr. Jaroszewski states, the facts were changing minute to minute that decision may have been different.
But Dr. Iassogna had to make the decision by a pre-determined time for things to happen on schedule - or not happen. He consulted many people, here in Trumbull and elsewhere, took the information and made his decision.
We were fortunate that the accident was no worse than it was. perhaps it becomes a teaching moment, and that a repeat of similar circumstances might lead to a different decision.
Roy Fuchs
Cindy Penkoff
3:09 pm on Thursday, January 27, 2011
Roy, I wasn't saying Ralph should have asked, although it may have proved more apporporiate for him to do so as they are the ones that had to drive in it, but, from a story perspective, their words may have added something to this. The fact of the matter is we owe it to our kids to make the best deicisions possible and that includes those that must get them from point A to point B. Just becasue Ralph did not ask them does not mean they should have been left out of the conversation after the fact.
That is all I am saying.