Lynn’s Connect Ed system not used Monday

LYNN – With a weekend nor’easter smothering Thursday’s deep snowfall in a sheet of ice and rain, area residents had their hands full just trying to get in and out of their own neighborhoods during the storm.But by Monday morning, some parents assumed the roads were clean enough for students to go to school and began their usual weekday routines none the wiser that the school department had capped the weekend with a second snow day.Superintendent Nicholas Kostan said the decision to cancel school Monday was made because, while the roads may have looked bare, the freezing temperatures had coated the entire city in a sheet of ice that would have been potentially hazardous to students both riding school buses and walking to school.”It is better to keep on the safe side,” he said. “There was a lot of water out there, it was like a skating rink in some areas in the morning.”Kostan said there was also a conflict at some schools that are used for off-street parking during the city snow ban. Many cars ended up plowed in, or simply stuck spinning their tires in the ice, which would have made for an even more confusing and dangerous situation when teachers and students began pulling into the parking lots.”It was just best to give people a day to clean out,” he said.While cancellation notices were posted on all local television news stations, and on the Lynn Public School Web site, along with Itemlive.com, parents are wondering why the city did not utilize its Connect Ed reverse phone system to further assure that all families were aware of the day off.”I checked the news before I went to bed and school wasn’t canceled yet,” said Cheryl Matsubara, who has a child at the Aborn School. “I packed up lunch and bundled my child (in the morning) and dropped her off (at a friend’s house). I was around the block when I got a call saying ‘Mom, there is no school today.'”Matsubara, who is looking back at the situation with a light-hearted attitude, said she did not check the news stations because it appeared the roads had been cleared, and admitted dropping her child off was a mistake on her part.But she was not the only parent in this predicament, and the situation does raise questions as to why the city does not use the reverse phone system to notify parents of days off.”I would have loved to get that automated message,” she said. “I feel like Monday’s cancellation was very unexpected. I find that auto messaging very effective when they call for other things.”The Connect Ed service allows the School Department to phone parents at home with automated messages regarding everything from school lockdowns to open house schedules.Individual principals use the system frequently for a variety of reasons, but Kostan said the department has never placed phone calls to announce school cancellations.”We do use it quite extensively, especially by the individual principals, it is quite helpful,” he said. “We haven’t used it for snow days yet, but it is something we will probably look into using in the future.”Other surrounding communities, such as Salem, use the system for snow days but receive frequent complaints from new residents that do not have children in the school system. Because a parent did not update their new phone number in the database when moving, irritated residents are forced to call into the school after receiving an unexpected 6 a.m. wake-up call.Kostan said Lynn has experienced similar problems because families in this area change phone numbers so frequently, which is one of the negative aspects of using the system.For parents like Matsubara, Monday’s situation was hardly life altering, but why the School Department would not further utilize a system that they have already had a positive experience with is a mystery.”I don’t know how realistic it is, but I would love the automated system if (snow days) was announced by 11 p.m.,” she said. “I am usually in bed before 11, so it would be nice to know the day before. Either way, I would love to