As part of his report to the Board of Education at its public session on Dec. 10, Interim Superintendent Raymond Albano presented a proposal for recapturing the days lost to the hurricane in late October and early November. The district was closed from Monday, Oct. 29 through Wednesday, Nov. 7, but reopened Nov. 8 and 9 when the New Jersey State Teacher’s Convention was cancelled.
The existing 2012-13 district calendar, as approved by the BOE on Jan. 23, 2012, includes three emergency closing days. The calendar also stipulates that closings in excess of three will be made up during the Spring Recess beginning with Friday, April 12 and working backwards from there. The total days lost to the storm nets out at six, resulting in three days still to be made up.
Given the extraordinary circumstances of the days lost so early in the school year, Albano suggested, and the board agreed, that it would be prudent to hold a one-session day on Monday, Jan. 21, Martin Luther King Day, which was previously planned as a school holiday. Under state statute, one-session days (days of at least 4 hours of instruction) constitute a full student day in New Jersey and therefore count as a make-up day. Observances of the holiday for students will be planned throughout the district during the morning hours; staff development activities will be planned for the afternoon. Make-up dates for the other two days lost will be Thursday, April 11 and Friday, April 12.
During his report, Albano noted that additional emergency closings during the school year would necessitate an update to this calendar adjustment.
