The harsh, snow-filled winter is not just wreaking havoc with the roads; it has also wreaked havoc with the district’s school calendar. Including Thursday, February 13, the district had used five emergency closing days, forcing it to make some tough decisions about this year’s academic calendar. With four weeks of winter to go and only two possible days remaining to take away from spring break, the board vote unanimously on Tuesday, February 11, to open schools the following Monday — Presidents’ Day, a federal holiday.
Superintendent David Aderhold explained to the board why the opening on Presidents’ Day was necessary. “If we don’t open on Presidents’ Day, we will only have two scheduled emergency closing days left in the calendar, the Tuesday and Wednesday of spring break week [April 15 and 16]. We could potentially use the Monday, April 14, as well — it is the start of Passover, but Passover does not begin until sundown on that day. We cannot use Friday, April 18, because we are obligated to close on that day due to contractual obligations with our bargaining units.”
“If we use up the remaining days of spring break, and need another day, we will either have to open on Memorial Day, or extend our calendar year. Neither of these are great options.”
The district also wanted to avoid having to reschedule the high schools’ graduation ceremonies. “Our high school graduation is held at the Sun Bank Arena because that is the only venue in the area large enough to accommodate all of the students, families, and their guests who attend,” Aderhold said. “We originally planned to hold graduation on June 18, but had to move it to June 17 because of the Special Olympics, who are using the venue for the remainder of that week. So if we had to extend graduation, we would be forced to hold it during the fourth week of June, or find another venue at this late date. But even assuming we could find one, there simply isn’t another place large enough to accommodate us.”
The Board considered the ramifications of the calendar change. Said Board President Tony Fleres, “We have to remember that these are not just ‘snow days’ but are emergency closing days. Sometimes we have to close for reasons other than snow, like during Hurricane Sandy or even last week, when we almost had to close on Friday because PSE&G caused us to lose power at four schools.”
“This is not an easy decision,” said Board member Michele Kaish. “But, unfortunately, in May, if we have to open on Memorial Day, we can’t go back and say, ‘oh I wish we had opened on Presidents’ Day instead.’ We have to make the best decision we can right now to preserve the remainder of our school closing days and holidays.
Rachelle Feldman Hurwitz agreed. “We can’t know what is going to happen down the road. Going to school on Presidents’ Day is the most reasonable option.”
Aderhold also advised the Board that the three unions representing the district employees were in agreement that the best option would be to open on Presidents’ Day.
Originally, the district had sent a communication to parents that indicated that the primary reason for the change was to preserve spring break. West Windsor Council member George Borek attended the Board meeting and expressed his concern that the school district was seemingly putting greater importance on spring break than on Presidents’ Day.
“Presidents’ Day is a federal holiday, and its purpose is to show respect to the past leaders of our country. It is a day of honor and remembrance and is an important part of our history, and frankly I think it is more important than spring break, and I know a lot of residents also feel this way. I ask that you consider this before making the change,” Borek said.
However, once Aderhold more fully explained the decision, at the Board meeting as well as in a second communication sent to district parents, Borek was satisfied.
Another calendar change turned Friday, February 14, into a full day for all K-5 students. The elementary schools had been scheduled to have a half day to accommodate parent-teacher conferences, while the middle and high schools already had a full day scheduled. For a school day to count toward the 180 required under state law there must be four hours of instruction, and in the case of a delayed opening a half-day would not be long enough. The move turned out to be well-timed, as the day lost by the storm on Thursday, February 13, also resulted in a 90-minute delayed opening the following day.
Electrical Issues. The winter weather also contributed to unexpected technical difficulties for the district. As PSE&G worked to restore power on Friday, February 7, following that week’s snow and ice storms, the utility inadvertently cut power to other users including both high schools, Community Middle School, and Millstone River School.
According to a district-wide communication, “When the power was lost, our core switch at High School South was damaged; hence, we lost connectivity. Many of our resources go through the core, so we lost the ability to access the Internet, E-mail, and Infinite Campus.”
The district was unable to send or receive external E-mails, and second marking period grade-posting and high school course selections were delayed while district technology staff worked to correct the problem. All communications were restored on Wednesday, February 12 — just in time for the next storm.
