On December 1st, 2025, many news stations reported that 3-6 inches of snow would start as early as 7 AM to 10 AM.
Despite all of this, Ludlow Public Schools were still in session yesterday. The only cancellations that were made were after-school activities. There was no cancellation of school, delays, or even early releases.
Ludlow High School starts at 7:25 AM, which means that the time expected for the snow to arrive would occur as students were arriving at school.
Yet again, despite the fact that it was believed that there would be snow early in the morning, there was still no cancellation of school or any school hour adjustments.
It began to snow around 9:40 AM in Ludlow, which was 2 hours off from the initial time that it was supposed to be snowing.
What was also different was the hours it lasted. The snow is now expected to snow until 9 PM, which is a much longer duration than what was previously expected.
Students had to go home during heavy snowfall. Due to the active snowfall, there was no time for snow plows to fully clear the roads and for the sidewalks to become shoveled.
Many students who use the bus to get home often have to walk down the street and some even have to go up or down hills. This could then lead to students tripping and hurting themselves because of the slippery environment.
Not only was it hazardous for the students who took the buses, but it was also hazardous for the students who drove themselves home.
While the principal, Mrs. Nemeth, dismissed students with cars early so that they could clear the snow off their cars and hopefully safely leave, it was still extremely dangerous.
When a new school year begins, many students begin to drive. You could argue that all of the drivers would have to deal with driving in snow at some point, but the snowfall we saw yesterday went far past safe driving practices in the snow.
This also caused distress among many new drivers during the school day. Many student drivers had called or texted their parents asking them to dismiss them so they could drive home before it got even worse. Some students even stayed home in fear for their safety.
As I was leaving the school parking lot, I even accidentally hit the curb because I could not see the road whatsoever as well as the surrounding road around the parking lot.
Michaela Murphy—a junior—also shared her stressful experience due to the school’s decision to stay open and her opinion on it.
She says, “as someone who drives to and from school daily, I was getting increasingly nervous as the day went on and nothing was said about the weather conditions. I’m already a nervous driver as is, and the thought of having to drive home in the middle of a sleet and snow downpour was pretty nerve-wracking.
“I was grateful that we were able to leave 15 minutes early to clear off our cars, but I think even then the entire situation could have been avoided if we were either allowed to leave early or the day had been canceled,” she continued.
Another junior, Liberty Carlson, shared her frustrations as well, “I don’t know why the superintendent thought he could trust a bunch of teenagers, who just got their licenses, to drive safely in the snow. Especially because the roads were not plowed. I had to help one of my friends push her car into her driveway because she got stuck.”
The friend who got stuck, Caitlyn Peczka, also expressed her anger with the school district’s decision and the consequences she had to face because of it, “Call off school when it snows badly, it’s not that hard. Every other school does it so why am I here risking my life trying to drive home in a blizzard because one man decides the weather isn’t bad enough for us to take one snow day.”
Peczka continues, “Driving home today I almost got into multiple crashes. Since the road wasn’t plowed my car was slipping and sliding all over the place, which made me very worried driving home. Not a single road was plowed on my way home, I even got stuck on my own road trying to pull into my driveway. I had to get like 8 people to come push my car to my house because the snow was so bad. Instead of us new drivers driving in this kind of weather let us stay home, or even let us out of school before the roads get too bad.”
“The parking lot was crazy,” Senior Emilia Alves remarks, “My car can barely drive as it is, so it really struggled in the multiple inches of snow. This could’ve been completely avoided if the superintendent actually thought about high school students and their lack of driving skills.”
A student who recently got her license, Kyleigh Johnson, shared the distress that came with the decision to keep school open, “as a new driver with basically no experience driving in the snow, driving through such heavy snowfall was very nerve wracking, especially since multiple people inside and outside the school were concerned for the safety of their students and children.”
Junior, Beatrice Chelo, criticizes the school for staying open and points out just how dangerous it was.
“I don’t think that we should’ve had school today. The roads were a mess and even main streets in Ludlow were not plowed. Many people were nervous about driving home today especially for people who just got their license and don’t have any experience driving in the snow. The road conditions could’ve caused accidents if people weren’t cautious enough and with the amount of snow we got, I think it called for either no school or an early release.”
Senior Allison Lewis adds, “I understand that they didn’t realize the severity of the snow before school, but since Mr. Tiano was here at school yesterday, he should’ve seen the snow fall and let us out early, at least,” she continues, “It was dangerous.”
Of course, the struggles don’t apply only to the high schoolers. Every single Ludlow student was forced to put themselves at risk yesterday.
Little kids had to walk to their houses on snow concealed sidewalks while the snow poured on top of them. You can only hope that their parents gave them snow boots and coats to wear yesterday.
Yesterday, Pittsfield had reported 6 car crashes so far, Interstate 91 had a crash at 2:15 PM yesterday where one person had to be taken to the hospital, fifteen minutes after that crash Interstate 90 had a crash as well.
Luckily, there were no reported accidents in Ludlow. However, that doesn’t mean it was okay for school to be in session yesterday.
This wasn’t students simply wishing they had a snow day so they didn’t have to go to school. It was a hope that was destroyed that the school would protect us.
Students yesterday were wishing that our old superintendent, Todd Gazda, was still here because he always prioritized our safety. Students shouldn’t have to wish that someone is here to protect us. Rather, it should be a given.
We can only hope that mistakes are recognized and something like this won’t happen again in the future.
Students’ safety should be the top priority, not ensuring they go to school despite the risks.
If something like this happens again, will Ludlow not be as lucky? Will a student suffer the consequences next time due to the decision of someone we rely on to keep us safe?
School should not have been in session yesterday. Prioritize safety, not attendance.