District Superintendent George Stone said he decided to close schools until Tuesday, Feb. 16, because some district residents were still without power and almost all secondary roads in the district are still covered with snow and ice.

Interviewed Wednesday, Feb. 10, Stone said, “We were 100 percent sure we were getting snow again today, and even if by a miracle we could clear everything off by Thursday or Friday, with the holiday Monday, we couldn’t fire up boilers and use all the energy for probably one day.”

State officials don’t yet know how many snow days will have to be made up, but state testing is expecting to go on as scheduled.

Department of Education spokesman Ron Gough said state officials can’t change testing dates.  The state has a contract with a vendor to proctor the test, and that vendor conducts tests in other states. 

“If we were to move our testing dates, then other states, also contracted with the same vendor, would have to move their dates as well.  More importantly, though, is that we have such a small time frame for getting test results back in time so school administrators can use the results to make decisions on summer school,” he said.

Gough said grades 2 through 10 will take the math test Wednesday and Thursday, March 10-11, and the reading test Monday and Tuesday, March 15-16.

School board President Camilla Conlon said, “I have confidence that our teachers have been teaching in accordance with state standards since September, therefore preparing our Cape students all along for state testing.  It is not something they cram in at the last minute – I’m sure our students will be fine!”

Stone said he anticipates state officials will excuse students from making up days when a state of emergency was in effect, which includes Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 10-11,

School board member Andy Lewis said it’s unfortunate students are missing so many days, but the district has to think of safety. 

“The roads I travel are usually the more clear ones in the district, and I kept reflecting on how hard it would be to safely drive a bus on them,” he said.