Sudden Decision To Close Berkeley Township Schools Today Annoys Some

by Patricia A. Miller

If you went to the Berkeley Township school district’s website on Monday, you would have seen a banner stating that the district would have a two-hour delay on Tuesday.

Things changed today, when parents got calls or texts at 7:40 a.m. that the district’s four elementary schools would be closed.

The last-minute decision didn’t sit well with some parents who posted on Facebook.

Other parents praised the decision and said the roads in some sections of town, particularly Pinewald, were still in rough shape.

The Central Regional school district stuck to the original decision made on Monday for a two-hour delayed opening on Tuesday.

“I made the decision on Monday for a 2-hour delay opening early, so people could plan accordingly if needed,” Central Regional Superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides said. ”We did not change our two-hour delay. Our students are older and our grounds crew and transportation department did an amazing job. ”All the main roads are fine and we just had to go extra slow in some areas to get the kids here safely.”

There are two school districts in Berkeley Township. The Central Regional school district includes the high school, middle school, and the Hugh J. Boyd Elementary School in Seaside Heights. The Berkeley Township school district consists of four elementary schools.

The differing schedules even had some Facebook posters calling for the consolidation of the two school districts.