School Opening Delay: What Kind Of Impact Will It Have?

The power is on at Brien McMahon High School. The halls of the building are as clean as those of a hospital. Teachers and administrators are working in their classrooms and offices. Everything was ready for the opening day of school on Thursday. But the after effects of Hurricane Irene forced Norwalk's Board of Education to make a change of plans. All public schools in the city, including Brien McMahon, will now start its academic year on Tuesday, September 6.

"It was all about safety, " said principal Suzanne Koroshetz. "There are still neighborhoods that don't have any power. And how would the kids get to school? There are still power lines and trees down and it wouldn't be safe for them to walk to school."

Koroshetz said that because of the delay, teachers, coaches, and students will have to make some adjustments to their normal routines. But losing two days of a school is a lot more significant than one might think.

"From a teaching perspective, it puts us behind a bit," said Tom O'Neil, head of the mathematics department. "It is a concern in regards to CMT and ACT testing in the spring. We'll just have to hustle and get the kids caught up."

Hurricane Irene caused several athletic teams, who were already on campus preparing for the fall season, to come to a screeching halt. Most of them missed four days of practice, affecting the continuity and development of the teams.

"The coaches are upset. They're upset because other teams around Fairfield county didn't miss a lick," said Joe Madaffari, athletic director. "But this is all about safety. We can't have players walking home. Some neighborhoods are still bad and its not safe."

Madaffari said that while some scrimmages might have to be rescheduled, there won't be any delays when it comes to opening games of the season for all the programs. He also stressed to his coaches not to push too hard to make up for the the time and missed practices.

"If I don't see something that I don't like, I will tell them about it," he said.

McMahon will lose two snow days because of the delay and there will not be orientation for freshman nor a staggered entry. Things could get a little interesting when the opening bell rings on Tuesday.

"Everybody has new schedules," said Mary Michailidis, 12th-grade assistant principal. "Freshman have new schedules. Seniors have new schedules. Come Tuesday, everyone will be walking around a little delirious," Michailidis said, jokingly.

Delays are nothing new to schools, but one that comes at the beginning of the year that pushes the start of it back by a week, is unusual. As we've seen with Mother Nature, nothing is predictable or routine anymore.

"It's just monitor and adjust," said Koroshetz "If you can't do that as a high school principal, this isn't the job for you."