Ian Strauss

The senior parking lot blanketed in snow on the following Wednesday, Dec. 3 morning.

The last-minute early release on Tuesday, Dec. 2 was an undeniable mess that put students, parents, and staff members in danger despite weekend reports of impending snow. 

While these reports of snow had turned to a forecast of rain by Monday, Dec. 1, earlier action should have been taken to prevent putting the community at risk and forcing families into dangerous situations. 

Superintendent Christopher Chew sent an email to parents on Monday night warning of the potential for a schedule change, but he stated that he intended to send a notification about any shift between 5:30-6:00 a.m. on Dec. 2, which did not occur. Announcing a half day after seeing the snow accumulation before 8 a.m. would have been a safer and more convenient change that could have prevented the messy and dangerous dismissal on Tuesday afternoon.

With light snowfall beginning around 7:30 a.m., the day’s start was indicative of the perilous weather to come. Although the flurries came to a stop midway through first block, the storm picked up again with an increase in speed and volume before the end of second block.

By this point, it was clear to many people in the building that the day should have at least been an early release, but still, no action was taken to notify students or parents about a change to the schedule. 

As students moved to F block, it became apparent that driving conditions would be significantly worse than expected. According to a poll conducted on the Ghostwriter’s Instagram, more than 209 students’ drives were negatively affected, and at least 70 students felt anxious about their ability to get home safely.

More than halfway through F block, an announcement was made that students would be moving to G block in one minute, and that dismissal would take place at 12:20 p.m. due to the inclement weather. Students shouldn’t have had to simultaneously worry about juggling classwork with concerns over risky road conditions, and class time gained due to the extended school day was likely negated to some degree by the stressful storm.

The unexpectedly shortened block forced many teachers to collect assessments that students had already begun to take and stop groups in the middle of their presentations. In addition, many F block teachers had to change their schedules and reschedule assessments. According to a Ghostwriter poll, the sudden schedule change disrupted at least 36 students taking an assessment and 82 students involved in an in-class activity.

Panic quickly set in among the student body following the announcement as people scrambled to notify their parents or find a last-minute ride home. The arrival of the announcement in the middle of the school day, as opposed to an earlier announcement, only added to the inconvenience. Parents had to find a break in their workday to potentially travel 20 minutes or more to pick up their child and navigate around broken-down cars and inexperienced drivers. In a few cases, students had to wait in the building until 2 p.m. for their parents to get a break from work and arrive at WA.

The email sent to parents by Superintendent Christopher Chew on the evening of Monday, Dec. 1.

The lack of a material notification, or even just a simple email to students, was a failure on the part of the administration, as seniors who had left the building during DLT had to rush back to the school while heavy snowfall was still coming down.

Additionally, the jarring shift caused stress to students and parents alike as they worried about driving through the thick flurries quickly accumulating on the roads.

As New England residents, it is important that drivers are comfortable navigating through unsafe winter conditions. However, Tuesday’s storm was more than just a light flurry, and for many newly-licensed student drivers, it was their first time traveling through snow. 

With one car stuck in a snowbank at the intersection between Patten Road and Cold Spring Road, and at least one confirmed student car crash, it was completely unreasonable to expect students to just learn how to navigate the weather while driving on Westford’s notoriously hilly and winding roads.

While it was the students’ choice to drive to school, a significant number assumed that the roads would be safe because no changes had been announced to the school day. It was unreasonable and irresponsible to establish that sense of safety with the knowledge that conditions could worsen beyond the projected weather.

In past years, Chew has received backlash for prematurely announcing a change due to dangerous weather, so his hesitancy to shift the schedule is understandable. Even so, the benefits of erring on the side of safety almost always outweigh the drawbacks of an unnecessary change.

The Ghostwriter understands that lengthy conversations between the superintendent, Westford Department of Public Works, and other town members must take place before any changes are enacted. 

Nevertheless, seeing as the snow began before school started and earlier weather forecasts predicted severe snowfall, sooner action to shorten the school day wasn’t unrealistic and would have saved all Westford Public Schools students, faculty, and parents a dangerous, anxiety-ridden ride home. After considering all these factors, the Ghostwriter is giving Chew a D+ on the first snowy schedule change of the 2025-2026 school year.