explains how snow day
decisions take shape
To close or not to close; that was the question
FRHSD superintendent
explains how snow day
decisions take shape
By dave benjamin
Staff Writer
The decision to close schools based on weather predictions is not as easy as some people might believe it is.
Speaking about the decision he faced on the morning of Dec. 5, Freehold Regional High School District Superintendent of Schools James Wasser said, "It was probably one of the worst days that I’ve had in the eight or nine years that I’ve been calling snow days. The reason for that was the time that the snow storm occurred."
The superintendent reviewed the events of that day with Board of Education members at a recent meeting.
Wasser said he has to make a decision to close schools in conjunction with his transportation director and said that decision must come no later than 4:30 a.m. He said the decision involves other public schools and non-public schools in the area where students from the FRHSD are taken.
On Dec. 5 at about 5:30 a.m., he said, some elementary school superintendents in the district — which contains Colts Neck, Marlboro, Manalapan-Englishtown, Freehold Township, Freehold Borough, Farmingdale and Howell — were considering closing their schools for the day.
"They had heard the weather report that there was going to be a storm," Wasser said, "but there was a discrepancy regarding the time that the storm was actually going to hit."
He said weather service officials informed the FRHSD the storm would hit between 9-10 a.m. That would leave the students, who would have been in school at 7 a.m. or 8 a.m., time to leave by noon or 1 p.m. With that information on hand, the decision was made to open the FRHSD’s six schools for 10,500 students.
"In a few hours, by the time the storm hit, it wasn’t a massive accumulation," Wasser explained. "(But, we were unaware of) the worst environmental factors you can have, ice cold ground and flurries hitting the ground and sticking immediately."
The superintendent said the district opened because there was nothing at 4 a.m., at 4:30 a.m. and at 5:30 a.m. when he was on the phone with a local elementary school superintendent, there was also nothing happening.
"It hit Manalapan sometime around 6:20 a.m.," he said. "It was too late to make that call and notify people to tell them not to come in."
Wasser said many school districts closed and, unfortunately, two radio stations announced that the FRHSD was closed.
"They got mixed up with Freehold or Upper Freehold, vs. Freehold Regional, vs. Freehold Borough," Wasser said. "So they announced that we were closed, causing a mass confusion."
Wasser said both radio stations that made the incorrect announcements were stations that students and faculty members listen to and as a result of that some teachers who were trying to make their way in to work turned around and started to go home.
"There were staff members missing (that morning) and students were missing," Wasser told the board. "Enrollment-wise we were very low, but we were open."
Wasser said he was upset that the radio stations didn’t follow the codes that were supposed to be used in the event of a closing.
"You don’t take a message from anyone unless they use the appropriate codes," he said. "They just took the message and hung up."
Wasser said when he arrived at his office in Englishtown at 7:20 a.m. he saw how the ice was freezing up on the roads. He told the board members he called each building principal and ordered an early dismissal, noon and 1 p.m.
During snowy or icy weather, students are reminded that they should take the bus and not drive to school. Wasser said he felt fortunate there was only one "fender-bender" that he heard about and nobody was hurt.
Wasser said the option of calling a two-hour delayed opening would not have worked under the circumstances because the students would then be going in at 9:30 a.m. and they could not be let out early. The only options were to be open or closed, he said.
The superintendent noted that during the previous week forecasters had called for 4 inches of snow, but at the last minute the temperature warmed up and it rained. Wasser said if he had made a decision based on the weather reports, schools would have been closed on a day when it rained.
He said parents should know that schools are not kept open because the district doesn’t want to lose the required number of school days.
"I can’t call a day (off) if I don’t see anything happening at 4 a.m. or 4:30 a.m.," he said. "That procedure is a board decision and only they can change that procedure. (If that happens), I would have to be better than the weathermen to try to figure out what is going on."
Wasser reiterated that there must be a reason in the very early morning hours to close the schools and he said that decision is not an easy one to make.