Mixed Feelings Regarding Delayed Academic Year

Irene has made her entrance and left . While kids would normally have been in school by now, they are instead dealing with the reality of and figuring out what to do with a few extra days of summer.

Tom Patterson, the father of second-grader Ethan and third-grader Jacob, is seeing the sunny side of Irene’s aftereffects.

“The kids love it,” he said. “They get a longer vacation. We’ve been making the best of it.”

Patterson has been taking his kids to for long days in fresh air and to the beach for their last sandcastles of the summer. He sees no reason to get upset with anyone for Weston’s extended summer experience.

“It doesn’t look like we are getting power on my street till Saturday,” Patterson said Wednesday. “It could be worse. The sky is sunny and the weather is great.”

Patterson has been able to get out of his driveway and he has taken the opportunity to drive around town. With branches down and roads closed, he feels that the town has made the right decision .

“It would be impossible for the busses to get through to any of the roads, so I think a few extra days of summer are better for the kids,” he said.

Emma Coppock, an eighth-grader, and her brother, Ben, spent Wednesday morning grabbing brunch with their dad, Steve, at in Weston.

“I’m a teacher, so I don’t like that the start of school has been extended,” the elder Coppock said. “I already see those days being added up in June.”

Coppock is a math teacher at Darien High School. He planned to start teaching this past Monday, but now he is taking it day-by-day, he said. His kids, on the contrary, don’t seem to mind the delay. Both attend and aren’t in a rush to get back to the classroom.

“I like it better that we’re starting late, but I think we ‘ll get a shorter summer break” his daughter, Emma said.

Coppock's son has been taking advantage of the calm after the storm.

“We’ve just been playing outside during the blackout. I am sort of excited to go back to school, but I like it better that we’re starting later,” Ben said.

Flavia Silveira happens to agree with Coppack. She is finding the delayed start to be a hindrance when it comes to managing her job. She lives about 25 minutes from Weston, in Trumbull, but finds that the experience is very much the same.

“I’m not happy that school is starting later,” Silveira said. “We were supposed to start last Tuesday and now we are starting on Monday.”

Silveiria has been bring her 7-year-old son, Adriano, with her to work. Adriano had the back-to-school butterflies, but was willing to wait a few days to get back to his friends and teachers. In his opinion, second-grade took a back seat to summer fun.

“I am excited about starting school, but I wanted to wait a little while, so I was happy about starting school late,” he said.

Marty Imber and Jimmy Brasco, high school students, are two kids who are taking on a different view of the town’s decision. They have seen put a hold on the start of academia in previous years and they were looking forward to starting 11th grade on time.

“It’s kind of annoying that we’re starting school late,” Imber said. “Last year we had a lot of snow days—like nine or 10. We had to and people had vacation plans that they couldn’t follow through with.”

Bracso has similar feelings. He is taking advantage of the extra summer days, but wanted to see the extra snow days saved.

“It’s kind of nice to have a few extra days of summer, but it’s also annoying that we’ve already exercised four out of five of the extra built in snow days,” Brasco said. “Last year we had one day of flooding, so this isn’t the first time this has happened."

“I would have liked to start on time or at least on Thursday,” Imber stated. “I’m worried that it’s going to cut into April break.”

Akshita Banerjee sees the benefit and the necessity of Weston’s decision to delay school until Tuesday. She has three young children and feels that their well-being is of higher importance than saving up a few snow days.

“The thing is that it’s a safety issue,” Banerjee said. “It’s better to be safe than to be sorry. The good thing is that the library and the recreation areas are open.”

Banerjee’s three children, Neel, Sujay and Aashna, have been wasting no time. They’ve been reading books and preparing for school so that they are ready when it is time to go. For residents without children, the power outage, lack of water and safety have been a major concern.

“I’m outraged with the town,” Weston resident Shirley Freifeld said. “To begin with, I’ve been without power since 5 a.m. on Sunday.”

Freifeld and her husband have been residents of Weston for 26 years and are both seniors.

“We have not seen one power truck,” she said. “There are four homes on my street including my own. There have been giant trees lying across the road and there is no way of fire trucks or police cars to get down there.”

Freifeld was on the verge of renting a car in order to get around town until her neighbor decided to spend his own money on the removal of trees and debris. Without his landscaper, the Freifelds would have been stuck on their cul-de-sac for an unknown amount of time.

“It costs a lot of money to clean it up yourself,” Freifeld said.

Weston, Redding and Easton public schools are all scheduled to open for the start of the school year on Tuesday, Sept. 6.