We all know the feeling of disappointment when a snow day isn’t called but not everyone knows the reasoning behind the decision made to have school.

Our superintendant Dr. Sandra Halloran makes the call and relies on the news, the bus company, and the police stations to help in making the call.

Around 5 a.m. Steve Gadd (an associate from the Salter bus company) is contacted to find out about the road conditions.

For a second opinion Halloran then contacts the Salisbury and Rowley police departments. Superintendents from surrounding schools are also asked about the matter of a snow day.

By that time Halloran has made the decision whether or not to have school. The call is made no later than 5:30 to 6:00 am.

             Snow removal takes place when it is known that school will be open.

 “Triton has a private contractor to focus on plowing the schools parking lots while other plows focus on clearing the roads of the rest of the town.” Halloran said.

 Triton sometimes has school when surrounding towns don’t because schools like Ipswich don’t have private contractors. This means the plows have to clear the town roads and the school parking lots which takes a lot more time.”

            Mr. Walsh who is in charge of school maintenance tells how workers use equipment like plows, shovels, and ice melt to help keep the area safe.

“The entrance, exits, and parking lots of the school are plowed while the sidewalks, walkways, stairways, and ramps around the school are shoveled and covered with ice melt.” Walsh said. “In the evening the parking lot lights surrounding the school are left on for workers to continue the process if necessary.”

            Even with all of these precautions the weather conditions still prove to be dangerous for teachers and students making the drive from home to school.

             It was the first snowstorm of the school year when Triton senior Will Antrim hit slush and lost control of his car while driving on Route 95 from Rowley to Triton. His car spun out and came to a stop at the edge of the median.

            The car needed to be towed and AAA arrived quickly to the scene. Luckily there was no damage to his car.

Antrim said, “It was partially my fault because I was going 35-40 mph which was too fast for conditions, according to the police officer. I was back to school before the end of first period and I feel very fortunate for not hitting other cars and not hurting anyone else.”

 Still Antrim felt school should have been cancelled. “We definitely should’ve had a snow day or at least a delay. I wouldn’t have crashed because I normally wouldn’t have gone out in that weather.”