Woodbridge Township Mishandles Snow Storm: Opinion

The early November storm that struck the New Jersey area had severe impacts on travel across the state. For some local school children, the storm meant exceedingly long school days and even longer commutes home from their schools. Despite the clear forecasts anticipating the snow storm, Woodbridge Township elected to not enact their early dismissal policy. Instead, many students suffered as a direct result, with some students not leaving their schools due to transportation issues for many hours after dismissal.

In a statement issued by Woodbridge Township School District’s superintendent, Robert Zega, he highlighted that there were transportation issues in the busing of many of the district’s students due to snow and poor driving conditions this evening. The message was sent to parents at 7:41 pm, stating that “All students are now home or on their way”. Zega stated that “We apologize for the delays, but this was a unique storm in its unanticipated intensity and timing”.

Elementary school students in the Lynn Crest School located in the Colonia portion of Woodbridge Township were stuck in their school until 5:20 pm, nearly two hours past their dismissal time.

The full statement from Robert Zega is as follows:

"Woodbridge Township Families:

All students are now home or on their way. We apologize for the delays, but this was a unique storm in its unanticipated intensity and timing. Our transportation staff did the best they could to transport our students home safely despite challenging driving conditions. We understand your frustration and we'll make sure we do all we can to prevent this situation in the future. The forecasted warm rain overnight will hopefully wash the remaining snow away by tomorrow morning, but if the weather impacts our school day we'll let you know.
Thank you and have a safe night.
Robert Zega, Ed.D."