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Local schools powerless to save for snowy days
(by Sue Hoffman - September 24, 2008)
Local schools powerless to save for snowy days
By SUE HOFFMAN
School officials were ready to hook up a generator at West Geauga High School the afternoon of Sept. 16, when the power came back on.
"We were concerned about the freezer in the main kitchen," School Superintendent Anthony J. Podojil said later in the week, and the district had borrowed the generator from the Geauga County Sheriff's Department.
The saga of the two-day outage continued as officials waited for power to return to the district's elementary schools so that classes could resume the next day. The last school in the district to have power restored was Lindsey Elementary School, at 6 a.m. Sept. 17.
"We wanted to get the kids back to school, and I waited as long as I could," Dr. Podojil said. Fortunately, power was restored in time to open school that day, he said.
Power for the Chagrin Falls School District's upper campus was not restored until 8 a.m. Sept. 17, community relations director Leonard May said, and it was too late to have schools open that day. The district had three days off, canceling an in-service for teachers, and delayed start for students on the third day.
Despite the power outage, the varsity soccer team played on the home field against Aurora the evening of Sept. 16, he said. "Both coaches wanted to play the game." Chagrin's victorious match had been moved up from 7 to 5 p.m. to take place in daylight, and the teams kept time with a stop watch. Since there wasn't enough time to play junior varsity, that game was rescheduled, Mr. May said.
West Geauga and Chagrin Falls were among the local districts that lost power from high winds Sept. 14. Others included Kenston, Ledgemont, St. Joan of Arc in Chagrin Falls, St. Anselm in Chester and the Metzenbaum Center in Chester.
Administrators, especially those in the Snowbelt, said they realized that the unexpected holiday took quite a bite out of the five "calamity" days they're allotted by state law each year to close school.
If the West Geauga district exceeds that amount, school will be made up at the end of the school year, Dr. Podojil said. "We all pray for a mild winter."
Recent history shows that many districts count on the five days for snowy winters.
The Kenston School District, which was closed two days last week, used six calamity days last year and five the year before, community relations director Katy McGrath said. A milder winter was experienced during the 2005-2006 school year, when the district used only one calamity day.
The Bessie Benner Metzenbaum Center, which serves children and adults with developmental disabilities, and private schools have the same number of calamity days, school officials said.
Food was another concern. All of the schools that lost power said they were able to save frozen food, but some had to discard refrigerated items.
For St. Joan of Arc School, saving the food was easy, Principal Shelley DiBacco said. "We had power the entire time." The school was closed because three of its four bus districts were closed, she said.
Fortunately, the Metzenbaum Center, which closed school for two days, had backup generators for the kitchen, Superintendent Donald Rice said.
During the two days without power, St. Anselm School was able to preserve the food by filling the Market Day freezer and taking it over to the convent, which had electricity, Principal Joan Agresta said.
Power returned at midnight Sept. 16 after the school had been closed two days.
Ms. Agresta said that, when the power went out the evening of Sept. 14, the school building "was filled with teenagers" attending parish school of religion. The Rev. Thomas Sweary carted out the lanterns to light the building while the students called their parents for rides home, she said.
Ms. Agresta said teachers already are talking about a possibly extended school year beyond the last scheduled day of June 4, if the calamity days are used up.
"The Farmers Almanac said we'll have a snowy winter," she said. "One teacher asked, 'Can I have June 12 off?'"
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