Newtown public schools will open for classes Monday, officials decided during a meeting at the Emergency Operations Center Sunday.
The decision was made following a 4 p.m. meeting today at the Emergency Operations Center. While some issues exist on the roadways, officials said enough clearing work has been done that would allow for buses to travel and there were detours available in hazardous spots as long as everyone exercises caution.
"We've met a standard that is reasonable," First Selectman Pat Llodra said.
Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson said that families want their children in school. She also added that all students and parents should stay away from all wires and if they see any by their bus stop, they should take their children to the next stop rather than risk contact with wires on the roadway.
The Sunday clearing work has made roadways much safer, Police Chief Michael Kehoe said.
"We made tremendous gains," he said.
Concerns were raised earlier in the day by Public Works Director Fred Hurley and Kehoe who cited a couple of roads that still had downed trees obstructing travel.
"Right now, I would say that we're not," Hurley said earlier in the day during a 9 a.m. meeting. "There is a lot of debris on the road."
But 36 line and 27 tree crews were dispatched all across town focused on restoration, which also would work to clear roads. Public works crews would then focus on clearing debris not involving wire.
In cases where wires are in the roadway, CL&P said it would drop "wire guards," which would warn drivers of the possible impediment but the company will not work to clear them until after 99-percent of the town has its electricity restored.
The town also was to ask bus drivers to perform a dry run of their routes Sunday afternoon in order to determine whether it was safe for schools to open. One of the complications was that utility crews also were working on restoration, which would impede the bus runs. Officials said that they would avoid those routes until later and return once utility crews are finished with their work.
Schools were closed all last week due to the widespread outages following the historic October storm. It was the second week classes have been canceled this year – the first week was following Tropical Storm Irene. Education officials said that the number of days students have been out of school this year already equals the record set last year when substantial snowfall forced school closures.
