Electrical Malfunction Shuts Down Hopatcong Schools (UPDATED)

HOPATCONG, NJ - A series of serious electrical malfunctions have shut down school in Hopatcong, possibly for the rest of the week, according to Superintendent Arthur DiBenedetto.

Due to the severity of the issues, the district has no phones or any district related technology services, including the district website. DiBenedetto said they will continue to post updates on a temporary page as we have them.

DiBenedetto broke down the situation:

• This morning there was an electrical outage in the neighborhood of the High School and Tulsa Trail.
• For reasons yet to be determined, the solar field continued to send energy to the schools.
• The solar field energy is not enough to provide full electrical needs thus transformers overheated and circulator pumps may have burned out; the electric service to the administration building caught fire.
• As of this time, electricity is restored to the high school but parts of the building are not heated due to wires being burned out on circulator pumps. If wires are replaced and pumps work, we are set to go for tomorrow. If pump is burned out, we have a major issue, as replacement is not easy.
• We are trying to get electricity returned to Durban. Tulsa Trail is down and we have major issues to deal with there.
• Tomorrow if the high school heat works and Durban has power restored, we will have school with Tulsa Trail moving to high school. As of now, that is best case scenario.
• Unfortunately, working parents should prepare contingency plans for Thursday and Friday if schools cannot be opened. Remember that Friday is early dismissal.

DiBenedetto also noted the Holiday Tree Lighting has been moved to Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

Thanks for reading! Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Have a news tip you'd like to share? Or maybe you have a press release you would like to submit or a correction you'd like to request? Send an email to russ.crespolini@patch.com

Subscribe to your local Patch newsletter. You can also have them delivered to your phone screen by downloading, or by visiting the Google Play store.