SOUTH BRUNSWICK: BOE: District schools open instead of off

By Ed Birch, Special Writer
   District schools were open instead of closed this Thursday and Friday, Board of Education members decided Monday night.
   The panel unanimously voted to change the school schedule and add the two scheduled off days this week to make up for the time lost last week during Hurricane Sandy.
   Schools were scheduled to close those days due to the New Jersey Educational Association’s (NJEA) annual convention in Atlantic City, which was canceled due to the storm.
   Superintendent Dr. Gary McCartney said that “the remainder of the days that the district will be adding to the school calendar is still under review, pending a final decision as to any requested modification in the number of required instructional days by the New Jersey Commissioner of Education Christopher Cerf.”
   In a statement regarding this matter, the New Jersey Education Department will be giving the final decision further consideration.
   Dr. McCartney further announced that any students who are absent due to previously made vacation plans would be considered “excused-absent” on those two days.
   Dr. McCartney said that he had been in constant contact for the past three days with South Brunswick Educational Association President Christopher Hines discussing many possibilities on amending the school calendar.
   During the public comment portions of the meeting, all speakers on the issue agreed with the proposal.
   Beth Olsson of Kendall Park, a parent and teacher at Cambridge School, said she supported for the proposal and questioned the Dr. McCartney as to why the announcement took so long to be made.
   ”Many other area districts made this announcement earlier than South Brunswick,” Ms. Olsson said. “Parents who made vacation plans were able to get any deposits made refunded to them.”
   Superintendent McCartney said that the decision could only be made by the board and that Monday was the earliest meeting for that to be done.
   Union President Hines also supported the calendar change. He did ask the board to take into consideration the fact that the district staff might have suffered damages to their property and some either recently regained their electricity or might still be without power.
   ”Our members have also suffered great hardships from the storm,” Mr. Hines said.
   He also asked that the Superintendent and the board consider counting any staff absences as “excused” and not charged to their two personal days that they are allocated each year.
   Township resident Msr. Kosby spoke about the students at the high school who are taking Advanced Placement classes. He stressed that the Board must find ways to insure that these students have the instructional time to receive the needed instruction to score well on standardized tests at the end of the year. He also asked for consideration for the high school seniors who might have scheduled out-of town college visits during the previously announced vacation time.
   Another township resident who asked not to be identified, asked the board to consider cancelling scheduled parent-teacher conferences that are scheduled for the following week.
   She said district teachers are excellent at using e-mail to communicate with parents to advise them of the progress of the students. She felt that this procedure can be used and the savings in time could lead to additional days of instruction.
   Dr. McCartney said all suggestions as well as others brought forward will be evaluated after Commissioner Cerf announces his ruling.