‘A very rough morning:' Superintendents apologize after snowy trips to school

Parents and buses were trekking to school in New Britain as steady snow fell Wednesday morning.

“That was kind of surprise. I figured there would be a delay this morning,” said one parent in New Britain.

Buses were rolling early in other districts, including in Cheshire, Newington, and Hartford, which also did not cancel or have a delay.

“It was a lot of snow. The roads were really bad,” said Lolita Lebby, of New Britain.

Some superintendents posted online to explain what happened.

“We all had a very rough morning, I know. So first and foremost I wanted to say thank you to the parents and apologize to the parents for a lot of stress and a lot of worry and a lot of hassle this morning,” said Tony Gasper, New Britain Schools superintendent, in a video release.

The New Britain superintendent said he took responsibility for the tough trip to school.

He also blamed a faulty forecast, as did some other superintendents who made similar calls.

But the snow unfolded like how our meteorologists predicted.

“This is such a not a big deal kind of system because it’s, you know, 1 to 3 inches of snow, but the timing is going to be about as bad as it gets. I think it peaks right around 7 or 8 a.m. So that’s going to cause some problems on the roads and it’s just going to be tough for the superintendents tomorrow morning to try to make a call one way or another,” chief meteorologist Ryan Hanrahan said on Tuesday.

As the snow stopped and clean up began again, parents said they understand the difficult choices school leaders face.

“I’m sure it’s pretty tough because you have a lot of decisions to make based on the weather, you know, the kids, transportation and stuff like that,” said Lebby.

The New Britain superintendent added student safety is their top priority and his team plans to meet to see how they could have done better.

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