Hopatcong Schools to Christie: Excuse Our 'Disaster' Days

The Hopatcong school district hopes the governor will reconsider the state's initial refusal to excuse the district from making up the days it missed due to power outages after the late-October snowstorm.

A freak pre-Halloween , leaving thousands without electricity for days while downing trees and power lines, even causing Gov. Chris Christie to declare a state of emergency. The entire district missed four school days——as Jersey Central Power & Light worked to restore power.

Hopatcong will send the request directly to Christie, state Department of Education Acting Commissioner Christopher Cerf, Sussex County schools Superintendent Rosalie Lamonte, Sen. Steve Oroho and Assemblyman Gary Chuisano.

Hopatcong schools Superintendent Dr. Charles Maranazno said the district would have opened if the power company had acted sooner.

"We were ready to go. Let's not even call them snow days," said Maranzano, who instead called them "disaster" days. "My guys plowed the snow. We were ready to go here.

The only reason we couldn't have school was because the power company couldn't get us electricity."

Board of Education President Cliff Lundin agreed.

"This was something beyond our control," he said. "It was an unprecedented storm event and it was a natural disaster. There is language in the [law] that says when the governor declares an emergency, which he did, they in fact can waive missed days of school."

Maranzano said Hopatcong requested to have its missed days excused via Lamonte, but Lamonte told the district the state said it wouldn't allow it.

Lundin said Hopatcong expects to add the school days to the end of its calendar without taking parts of spring or winter breaks or other holidays. The school year was scheduled to end June 12.

Lundin said the district hopes at least that the state will excuse one of 's missed school days "to get us back on the same" schedule. The fourth- and fifth-grade school was forced to close an extra day after the storm due to a downed power pole near its entrance.

"If they say no, they say no," Lundin said.

New Jersey public schools must complete 180 days a year. Hopatcong's teacher contract requires teachers to be in school until June 30 at the latest. A rough winter could extend the school year deep into June.

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