Jefferson Schools Reopen Monday

All Jefferson Township schools will reopen on Monday, exactly two weeks after Hurricane Sandy tore through the northeast and caused severe damage in the township and across the state.

The two-week closure has caused several delays in the school schedule, according to a message posted by Superintendent Joseph Kraemer on the district website. 

The quarterly exams have been changed at the elementary schools to Nov. 15 and 16, and at the Middle School to Nov. 16, 19 and 20.

The first marking period has also been pushed back to Nov. 21. Report cards will be available on Nov. 30 on the Parent Portal.

The parent-teacher conferences in the elementary schools have been postponed until further notice, and the revision of this year's school calendar is under review, according to the Kraemer.

Mayor Russell Felter said that all schools lost power from the storm, and weren't fully restored until last week. He said the elementary school got its power back first, and the high school and middle school didn't get theirs until Tuesday evening.

Once the power was back, Felter said there was still a lot of work that needed to get done at the schools before they could open again.

"The problem then was that we had to get the sewer plant up and running at the high school," he said. "We had to get the water tested, had to stock it with food, there were a bunch of things that had to happen."

Felter said the schools have been cleaned, the food has been re-stocked, and everything is ready to go.

He said that in the past two weeks, the teachers helped out tremendously by volunteering at the comfort centers.

"It was a lot of long hours," Felter said. "They all filled in, they all did great. People were glad to see them. A lot of their students were there. It was a good feeling."

Kraemer thanked Felter and everyone involved in helping with Sandy in his message, and said he thought the OEM did a great job with the storm response.

"I am very pleased to say that the Office of Emergency Management was exceptional in its response to this crisis and was in constant communication with my office," he said. "The safety and wellbeing of our children was always the first priority."