Schools
opening early to beat cold
Thursday,
September 02, 2004 • BY AMANDA GERUT •
Star-Ledger Staff
Summer recess ended
yesterday for students in two Sussex County school districts
and one district in Warren County.
But many of the kids who
got to enjoy the pool one more day shouldn't gloat: A total
of 27 Sussex and Warren districts open their doors
today.
The start of school comes
a tad earlier for students in several Sussex County
districts. The higher altitude in the northwest corner of
the state means colder winters, which for school districts
adds up to more make-up snow days at the end of the year.
Plus, this year Labor Day is a little later than
usual.
Sussex County
Superintendent Barry Worman said a county committee created
a guide for the 27 local districts, which they can modify or
adopt. This year, the committee recommended an earlier
start, and 16 districts begin before Labor Day. The 11
remaining districts start classes after Labor
Day.
"Keeping transportation
costs down, coordinating the districts and bus companies
that work with the districts, snow days, how late the year
ends -- these are all things taken into consideration,"
Worman said.
Wallkill Valley Regional
High School in Hardyston started yesterday along with one of
its elementary feeder schools in Ogdensburg Borough. At
Wallkill, Superintendent Joseph DiPasquale said the district
starts earlier, and skips the Oct. 11 Columbus Day holiday
to build in a weeklong break in February.
The break stops the flu
germs floating around school in the middle of winter from
jumping from student to student with each sneeze or
cough.
"It's the height of the
virus season," DiPasquale said. "It keeps kids away from
kids, and kids away from teachers."
Bernice Colefield,
superintendent at the Ogdensburg Public School, said they
started early to counteract bad weather.
"If we do have a bad
winter, we still would get out earlier in June," Colefield
said.
In Warren County, students
in Washington Borough donned backpacks as they headed back
to school yesterday. Today, 13 school districts from
Frelinghuysen to Franklin joined them in the pre- Labor Day
start.
Students in the Oxford,
Phillipsburg and Warren Hills Regional school districts will
board buses next Tuesday, the traditional opening day. Lucky
children in five other districts don't attend class until
Sept. 8. And Lopatcong Township students have the longest
summer vacation, with a start date of Sept. 9.
Some schools have more on
their plate than an early opening.
At Warren Hills Regional
School District, administrators are starting the school year
with concerns about record enrollment, with their middle and
high schools over capacity. Besides getting ready for
opening day next Tuesday, they are preparing for a
referendum on Sept. 28 for proposed additions to both
schools estimated at $43 million, said Superintendent Peter
Merluzzi.
The state Department of
Education doesn't require that schools follow any kind of
calendar. All it requires is that students attend school for
a minimum of 180 days. Most school districts in New Jersey
start after Labor Day because of the tourism industry in the
state, said state Department of Education spokesman Rich
Vespucci.
The later start
accommodates students with summer jobs, or families with
tourism-related businesses.
"Most school districts
pick a start day after Labor Day as the official end of that
season," Vespucci said.
But for schools like
Wallkill Valley Regional and Ogdensburg, the early bird
start is a fixture.
"We figured the earlier we
started the better," Colefield said.
"We didn't see any reason
not to."
Staff writers Joe Moszczynski and Chris Grape-Garvey
contributed to this report. Amanda Gerut covers Sussex
County. She can be reached at agerut@starledger.com or (973)
383-0516.
Copyright 2004 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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