The last time that Sharon students had five snow days was when this year’s senior class was in fourth grade.

When deciding on whether or not to cancel school, the Superintendent, Dr. Dunham, watches the 6:00 p.m., 11:00 p.m., and 5:00 a.m. news before making a final decision. “When a storm is predicted, the first thing to consider is the timing of the storm,” said Dunham.

A decision has to be made by 5:00 a.m., so everyone commuting to the schools will be aware of what is happening. Before making the final decision, the superintendents from different school systems contact one another to pass on and gather information that will be helpful with deciding what to do.

Sharon talks to Canton and Stoughton school systems, as well as Avon, Holbrook, Easton Foxboro, and Mansfield. They want to ensure that they’re making the right choice, which is why they sometimes don’t cancel school until the day of the snow day.

“Snow days are a plus for me, and in anticipation of one, I want to know if we are having one the night before, so I can plan accordingly,” said sophomore Jake Steinberg.

“We are well aware that the important decision has to be as accurate as can be to preserve safety,” said Dunham.

The process for making the right call is stressful. “I will add that superintendents rely highly on the weather forecasts and often find it stressful that updated weather reports are not available until 5 a.m. when the stations come back on,” said Dunham.

There are many inconveniences with a delay or canceling school because parents want to be able to take care of their children, but some need to be able to get to work.

Also, superintendents are in charge of talking to the DPW to see how much they can get done, and if it’s possible to open up school for the day. “The first question is whether the schools are plowed and the roads passable for Sharon buses and cars,” said Dunham.

The DPW starts by sanding and plowing all of the main roads, then the side streets, followed by the parking lots, but there are 40-50% fewer contractors working in Sharon which adds to the problem.

“The fact is every storm is as different as it is the same, no two storms take the same amount of time to clean up,” said Bill Petipas of the DPW.

Sidewalks don’t necessarily have to be plowed, so parents are contacted, so they are aware of the condition of the sidewalks. “This winter has been particularly difficult because the town is still seeing unplowed sidewalks weeks after the storm,” said Dunham.

There are three machines used to plow sidewalks, but the problem is the machines are good to work with when there are 2-12 inches of snow. If there is more snow, then it would take eight plus hours to plow the sidewalks.

“The fact is that we’ve had too many consecutive storms of too many total inches to catch up on the sidewalks despite our best efforts. We will keep trying until we eventually have a long enough break in the weather,” said Petipas.

Because we have reached the five-snow day limit, there has been discussion as to what the school system will do if this number of snow days is exceeded. There has been talk of taking away vacation, coming to school on Saturdays, or coming in an hour earlier, or staying an hour later, but the only decision that has been made thus far is that school will end on June 23rd.