Still Cleaning Up After Sandy
Two weeks after 'Superstorm Sandy,' there's still a lot of news to report.
Fourteen days after Sandy blew through the area, causing massive damage and widespread power outages, there's still a lot of cleanup left to be done.
Work crews are continuing to work to get everyone's electric service restored, and all local schools are finally back on normal schedules. But students lost a lot of valuable instruction with the unplanned break, and school officials need to figure out to get the seven or eight days missed worked into the school calendar.
The discussions will begin Monday, at the Warren Township Board of Education meeting. We'll check in to see what the districts are thinking.
Also, there's been a lot of talk about how to make sure we never have to suffer through this again. But what will work? Cutting trees? Underground wires? We'll check with some experts and share thier ideas for improving New Jersey's fragile electrical system.
This article was edited to correct an error in the number of days of school missed.
Penny
9:09 am on Monday, November 12, 2012
Ten missed days added to the rest of this school year calander ? Impossible, unless all the Winter and Spring breaks are taken away. I thought when the Governor declares a State Of Emergency, the missed days donot have to be made up. Private schools donot have as long a school year as public schools.
John Patten
9:16 am on Monday, November 12, 2012
When the Watchung Hills Regional Board of Education met last week, they acknowledged the trouble they will have finding the dates, but they did say the 180 day
minimum requirement still applies and they don't expect any legislative action to reduce it. There a two to three holidays in the calendar that can be taken, as well as a day or two at the beginning and end of some holidays (such as President's Day). Getting to 10 will probably also mean using all or almost all four snow days.
teachermomma
4:48 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Only 8 days were missed. 4 snow days were already built into the calendar. Not sure where the "9 or 10 days" came from, but that is inaccurate reporting.
John Patten
4:57 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Teachermomma--Thank you, in fact, for Watchung Hills, it's only 7. Thursday and Friday had been scheduled for the NJEA Convention, which was canceled. WHRHS held classes Friday, but Warren didn't so the district will need to make-up eight days.
Bob
5:39 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
4 days are needed for Warren Township. 3 days for the HS (once you take into account the 4 snow days). This only works if we do not have any more missed school (we were lucky last year). Some areas to look at: MLK Day, Length of Feb break. Monday after Easter. As John pointed out, the state will not reduce the number of days. They never have and even in these circumstances every indication from the NJDOE is they will stay firm on this.
Leisa Hudson Hamill
6:52 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
You mean to say that the entire time the children weren't in school they weren't learning anything? Why is a schoolroom necessary for learning? I was home for10 days straight and since there was no power I read by sunlight during the day and either flashlights or candlelight during the darkness. I had no other media in which to access and no where to go until the roads were clear and i had enough gas to travel. So,what about extending the days or going on Saturdays or even Sundays (I'm not talking about forever..just to get caught up)? What about packets of work to do at home (I'm not sure what homeschoolers requirements are, but there should be some type of system to compensate for regular students). Regarding snow days....November has just started and who knows how many additional days may be needed since we are just beginning the Wintertime. This could very well happen again..and then what?