Snow days present balancing act

LYNN – With relatives living only steps away from her apartment and a job she can do at home, Natasha Megie-Maddrey said she is lucky when it comes to being a parent juggling life on a day when a snow storm cancels school.The Highlands attorney and substitute teacher stayed home Wednesday with her husband, Tarik, four of her children, family chihuahua, Coco, and her six puppies.”As long as cable is working, we’re fine – I don’t know how the kids would be without power,” Maddrey said.For the parents and guardians of almost 15,000 students attending public schools – especially younger children – Wednesday was the fourth snow day this year and fourth time parents like Maddrey and her husband have re-arranged their working day schedule in advance of falling snow.Greater Lynn YMCA branch Executive Director Audrey Jimenez said snow days put many parents in a bind: They can’t miss work, but they have no one to watch their kids.”I think most kids are home – there are some being left home alone,” Jimenez said.The YMCA opened two of its programs at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday in order to help out parents, but Jimenez said school closings on snow days are often followed by youth-oriented program cancellations.”There’s not a lot of options out there,” she said.School Superintendent Catherine Latham has the final say on snow cancellations, but she does not “make the decision in a vacuum.” Latham, in an email Wednesday, explained she talks to Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy and other city department heads, including Acting Interim Public Works Commissioner J.T. Gaucher, before shutting down the city’s schools.”I am well informed about possible road conditions, snow totals, parking bans and implications for our schools. I try to make my decision as early as possible so that parents have time to make the necessary arrangements,” she stated.Megie-Maddrey said Wednesday’s storm gave her a chance to “reverse roles” with her husband: She fired up the snow blower while he cleaned their home. Their children played with the puppies, watched television and shot baskets through an indoor hoop.”The kids love it,” she said.Megie-Maddrey said she understands safety is the priority when it comes to school cancellations, but as active Cobbet School parents, the Megie-Maddreys know other adults face a dilemma when snow days loom.”It’s a hard choice,” said her husband.Tarik Megie-Maddrey said school administrators and teachers, parents, youth organizations and neighbors need to talk more and find ways people can work together to provide adult supervision for children on days when snow cancels school.Jimenez said many children attending YMCA programs are being raised by grandparents, foster parents and adults in “non-traditional” arrangements, who often work two jobs.”We know a lot of people who need a place to go on a day like today,” she said Wednesday.