Squirrel In Transformer Disrupts 1st Day Of School In Manchester

MANCHESTER, NJ — It's not unusual for school buses to run late picking up students on the first day of school in a new school year. First-day-of-school nerves, new bus routes, and parents trying to capture that moment all can make things slow on the first day.

In Manchester on Thursday, where school opened for the 2018-19 school year, the district's elementary school buses were late districtwide picking up students, but it wasn't because of any of the usual first-day tieups. This delay was due to a squirrel that got itself into a tight spot: stuck in a transformer at Manchester Township Middle School.

The stuck squirrel caused the transformer to malfunction at the school, resulting in a power outage at the school, the superintendent said.

The power outage was discovered as middle school staff arrived on Thursday morning, Manchester Superintendent David Trethaway said. He was notified shortly after 7 a.m. Jersey Central Power & Light was notified but the repair crew could not give an estimate of how long the repair would take, he said.

Initially the plan was to take the students to Ridgeway Elementary School, which is next door to Manchester Middle School, "in the event the repairs would take a significant amount of time," he said.

However, the JCP&L crew quickly found the squirrel and was able to make minor repairs and restore power to the school. Trethaway said the middle school students were held on the buses while that happened, which resulted in delays in the buses picking up elementary school students. A robocall went out to all parents to notify them of the situation and the delays, he said.

"The priority was safety and supervision of all students," Trethaway said. "While I apologize for the inconvenience, this was truly an unexpected occurrence on the first day of school. Please be assured that the buses will be arriving at the scheduled times tomorrow."

"I would like to thank our staff, the Manchester Police and our students for their cooperation and understanding during this strange event. I also want to thank our parents for their understanding and patience through the unusual first day of school."

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Photo by Manchester Township School District