SB Superintendent Explains Choice To Open School As Normal

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — Some parents in South Brunswick were frustrated the school district decided to open as normal today, without a delayed opening, saying the roads were very treacherous. South Brunswick was not alone; many school districts in New Jersey opened as normally scheduled today.

"I’m upset about it," said Sarah Abragamov, a mother who lives in Monmouth Junction who snapped that photo above on Deans Pond Lane. "This was the road on my way to drop my son at school. The school district made a bad call by not having a delay. It would have given crews more time to clean the roads, and there would have been less volume of cars on the road."

"When I got my son on the bus at 7:25 a.m. the roads were pretty bad and our street hadn’t been touched," agreed Brenda Lavan, whose son goes to Dayton Elementary School. "A delay would have been a lot safer for those going so early."

Patch asked South Brunswick Schools Superintendent Dr. Scott Feder about his decision. He said making the call whether to close school or open late is "always difficult," especially on days like today. He said the decision was made because the roads were predicted to be worse closer to 10 a.m., so a 90-minute delay could have potentially been even more dangerous.

"Always difficult on days like this. The roads were anticipated to be better earlier and only progressively worsen before full improvement for the afternoon return home. Thus, we anticipated a delay may have been worse for the roads," said Dr. Feder. "Another aspect with a delay was if the snow started later and progressed, we would not be able to do an early release, therefore potentially losing the day. Also, we need to make the call by around 5:00 a.m., which adds to the challenge."

South Brunswick police reported 14 motor vehicle crashes between 7 a.m. and 9:30 this morning, which is about double the number the Township usually sees on a weekday morning. While it is not clear how many of those involved kids being driven to school — if any — parents were still upset.

"It is not right to put all of those lives at risk," said Abragamov. "I'm truly disappointed with the way things were handled this morning."

Other parents said the school district made the right choice.

"I’m fine with it, "said parent Jackie Beitler. "Just had to take it slow on the side roads. The buses will be late as they are going slow, but we can’t close based on a half inch of snow."