Schools

UPDATE: Superintendent: 'Schools Will Be Open' Wednesday

If classes are cancelled, expect a 5 a.m. "robo"-call or check Belmont Patch Wednesday morning.

5:30 a.m.: Belmont Schools will be open on Wednesday, Dec. 18, a day after a snow storm dropped more than eight-inches of snow on the town, severely  hampering walking and driving from Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday early morning. 

10 p.m.: 
Moments after the Belmont School Committee voted to extend a contract offer to John Phelan to become the next school district superintendent on Tuesday, Dec. 17, the current superintendent made a decision that would effect every student in Belmont the next day.

After consulting a weather app on his smart phone and looking out the window from the Chenery Middle School to see a big front loader clearing the eight-inches of recently-fallen snow from the parking lot, Dr. Thomas Kingston told the committee and the public watching on the Belmont Media Center broadcast that he had made up his mind whether Belmont's six schools would open. 

"As of 8:30 p.m., Belmont schools will be open," said Kingston, explaining that weather forecasts called for the snow to end by 11 p.m., giving town and private plowers the opportunity to clear town roads by the morning commute. 

Kingston did advise parents and students that if conditions do change for the worse, the School Department will advise town officials to send out a "robo"-call to every household as well as advising the media that classes are cancelled.

The superintendent also said that students will be excused if parents believe that the trip to school will compromise the safety of their children. 


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