Cork principal: 'We certainly won’t open on Thursday, and Friday is also doubtful'

As weather conditions continue to cause havoc on Cork roads, two principals in schools in North West Cork explained how they made the difficult decision not to reopen this week.

Siobhán Buckley, principal of Presentation National School in Millstreet, said that they are doubtful that their school will reopen at all this week.

She explained the process of deciding whether or not a school should open, telling The Echo: “Here in Millstreet, we have two primary schools and one secondary, they’re each run by a board of management and ultimately it’s the board that makes the decision.

“Typically, I would consult with the chairman of the board, Fr John, who is also chair of the boards of the other two schools — he would always be adamant that what one school in the area does, the others should do too. You need consistency, particularly if you’ve got some children in primary and some in secondary.

“So the principals discuss with the chair, and we decided that in the interest of health and safety, we cannot be open, you just couldn’t be travelling to the school — it would be totally hazardous, it’s indescribable. The roads here at the moment are feet high with snow, and the footpaths are absolutely lethal. My husband is a farmer and he took me to the school yesterday in a tractor and the school is just inaccessible — any parent in the area will see that.”

She added that there has been “not one bit of negative feedback” from parents about the decision, explaining: “People understand that the situation is unprecedented, and we’ve had no choice but to make this decision.

“We’ve been calling it on a day-by-day basis — we certainly won’t open on Thursday, and Friday is also doubtful. During covid, we all got acclimatised to teaching and learning online, but it’s difficult that this hit after the Christmas holidays because a lot of the children’s books are still in the school,” she said, explaining that they have been emailing parents “a menu of semi-academic enjoyable activities that children can be doing.”

The school has two classes for children with autism, and Ms Buckley explained: “To me, they’re our most vulnerable students, so teachers made contact with parents just reassuring them that we will be back next week and that we can’t wait to see them.”

Vera Leader, principal of Boherbue Comprehensive School, added that her school is also currently closed due to adverse weather conditions, saying that school management continues to monitor the situation and the school will reopen when it is safe to do so.

She told The Echo: “Safety is always our top priority in making these decisions, and after carefully monitoring the current weather conditions, we made the difficult decision to keep the school closed. The snow and ice accumulations in the catchment area have created dangerous travel conditions for students and staff.

“At this moment, there is a significant layer of snow on the roads, and black ice is present in several areas, making it difficult to ensure safe transportation. Many roads are impassable.”

Ms Leader continued: “While we always strive to keep the school open, the safety of our students and staff is paramount. We’re closely watching the weather, and we will continue to monitor conditions throughout the day to determine the best course of action over the next few days.

“We are mindful of the challenge of balancing opening the school while at the same time ensuring the wellbeing of the school community during severe weather events.”