West Orange Power Outage Hit Schools Hard, Superintendent Says

West Orange, NJ – Wednesday wasn’t an easy day to work and travel in West Orange.

Following a power outage that affected around 2,000 customers throughout town, town administrators and school officials reported traffic delays and electric-related complications that played havoc with commuters’ and residents’ daily routines.

• See related article: West Orange Power Outages Close Schools, Snarl Morning Traffic

On Thursday, Superintendent Jeffrey Rutzky sent a letter to West Orange parents and guardians elaborating on the issues that the power outage created in the school district:

“As you know, [Wednesday] was a challenging day in West Orange. The power outage required West Orange High School and Pleasantdale Elementary School to close school. Neither school had operating boilers to heat the buildings. What further complicated the day was the horrific traffic jams that were caused by the traffic lights not working. Again, this was from the power outage.

“While nobody could imagine that a typical 5 minute ride in West Orange would take 45 minutes, the traffic lights being out caused the school buses to be severely delayed. When I was notified of the power outage, I immediately assess the options and prioritized the safety of our students, staff, and families. When we learned of the horrific traffic back up, a message was immediately sent from the transportation department to parents. Unfortunately, with many roads being closed or backed up, the damage was done as the school buses were delayed in excess of 30-45 minutes. This delay of picking up middle and elementary students caused for the dismissal time at the high school to be delayed.

“My general response to any emergency, including this morning’s circumstances, is to assess the situation, verify information for accuracy, and activate a plan that considers the safety of students, staff, and families. While the students at the high school were not dismissed exactly when told, that was due to the overall safety plan that included all students being dismissed at the same time. The students were safe and properly supervised at all times. During this kind of situation, it is much more important to have order and clear direction for dismissal. Because certain buses were late, I decided to delay the dismissal until all buses arrived at the high school. The last few buses arrived by 9:47. The students were dismissed minutes later.

“Like any other situation, district stakeholders and police meet after a situation is resolved to evaluate the procedures and discuss the outcome. While a few students and parents complained about the 9:50 dismissal time, the safety and orderly dismissal of 2,000 students was the priority. My apologies if the dismissal time was later than originally communicated. What should have happened is a simple message to the high school parents explaining the later delay of approximately 20 minutes. It is important that all district-wide administrators and key stakeholders understand the importance of effective and timely communication.

“I would like to thank the high school administration and staff for a wonderful job keeping the students safe, Dr. Pollara and the Pleasantdale staff who helped coordinate the closure of school, the transportation department for trying to navigate the challenging traffic jams while knowing that students needed to be picked up and dropped off.”

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