Hopatcong Adds 2 Days to School Calender

Hopatcong schools will add two days to its calender in the wake of losing a handful of days due to a pre-Halloween snowstorm that smacked the borough, causing power outages in homes and throughout the district.

On Wednesday, Hopatcong's Board of Education decided it will change Jan. 16, a scheduled professional development day, and Feb. 17, a scheduled holiday, to instructional days. The professional development day will be added to the end of the calander. The holiday will be removed.

New Jersey public schools must complete 180 days of instructional time. The October snowstorm forced most of Hopatcong's schools to miss four days while Durban Avenue missed five. A request for Gov. Chris Christie, who declared a state of emergency during the storm, to excuse Hopatcong's missed school days is still pending.

Read more below in a press release from Hopatcong schools.

The Hopatcong School Board decided last night to make two adjustments to the current school calendar in reaction to the school days lost in November due to lack of electric power.  Hopatcong Schools were closed for four days and Durban Avenue Elementary School was closed for five days due to the snowstorm that paralyzed the north Jersey area October 29.  The Board requested a waiver from the Governor of New Jersey for the lost days and is awaiting a response.

The School Board acted on December 7, 2011, to replace two days in the calendar with instructional days.  Schools will be open for staff and students on Monday, January 16^th for a full day of instruction and on Friday, February 17^th for a full day of instruction.  January 16 was scheduled to be a professional development day for teachers and staff.  This day will be moved to the end of the school year.  February 17 was scheduled as a holiday and was removed from the calendar as such. 

“The Board was concerned that critical instructional time was lost during the first semester of the school year due to no fault of our own,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Charles Maranzano, Jr., “and wanted very much to add time back into the calendar to achieve educational continuity.”  The Hopatcong Schools traditionally add days to the end of the school year when schools are closed for snow or other such emergencies.  

The move by the Board mitigates the overall effect of two of the four lost school days.  The School Board is hopeful that the remainder of the calendar will be preserved intact.  “The Hopatcong School Board has been very comfortable with the philosophy of adding days at the end of the school year rather than subtracting days from holidays,” said Maranzano, “this has been a widely acceptable practice in our district.  If the winter is not as harsh as in past years the students will fulfill their educational obligations by mid-June although the actual graduation date will not be determined until the 180 instructional days have been completed.”

The School Board assures school employees that contractual parameters will be honored under the proposed adjustments.  Maranzano is not optimistic about the waiver request to the governor even though such emergency days are permissible in New Jersey Code.  “We took reasonable measures by way of our waiver request but now must focus on the instructional obligations we are charged with under the 180 school day requirements.”

Was this the right move? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.