When School will Reopen Next Week Remains Unclear

Power is still out at most schools in the village and borough, so kids will have another day to figure out how to keep themselves busy. School officials meanwhile are keeping busy figuring out when classes will resume next week.

Ridgewood made the decision Wednesday to close for the rest of this week. The Borough of Glen Rock told residents Thursday that Friday would also be another day without text books.

So when will the bells ring again?

"We are awiting for the next OEM meeting on Sunday to see what's happening," Glen Rock school board president Rona McNabola told Patch Thursday.

Ridgewood Superintendent of Schools Daniel Fishbein said school board and village officials were doing all they could to get things running normally again.

"While we do not yet have a time table for electricity to be re-established to all of our buildings, if power has been restored, the school break scheduled for next week will be cancelled and schools will be open next Wednesday through Friday, November 8-10," Fishbein wrote in a letter to parents. "We are able to plan to open the schools at that time because the Teachers Convention has been cancelled due to damage in Atlantic City caused by Hurricane Sandy.

"I understand that to some, having the schools open will be great and to others, who made plans to be away, this may be problematic."

Somerville School will be open Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to serve as a charging station. The SAT testing scheduled for Saturday has been postponed until Saturday, Nov. 17, Fishbein said. 

"Lastly, school and Youth outdoor sporting activities will start again soon and it is important to understand there are still many dangerous areas in the village due to storm damage," the superintendent wrote. "Please be careful. I do think it is important to re-engage our students in a very safe and organized manner."

The state's largest teacher's union, the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) announced Thursday it had canceled its annual convention in Atlantic City – scheduled for Thursday and Friday – for the first time in 158 years. 

Glen Rock school board member Barbara Steuert said in a comment on Patch that those days are mandated closures by the state. "They must lift that mandate to open schools," Steuert said. "I hope they do."

Schools have been closed all week due to the impacts of "Super Storm Sandy."

Correction: The scheuled NJEA conference days were incorrect in the first version of this article.

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