West Orange Parents Complain About Abrupt ‘Virtual Learning Day’

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The call went out to parents early Thursday morning in the West Orange Public School District: Classes were moving online for the day.

As weather forecasters continued to warn about another possible winter storm in the area – which has already seen multiple snowfalls in the past week – West Orange School Superintendent Scott Cascone decided to call for a “virtual day” of learning.

While the decision was received well by some local parents, others didn’t take the sudden change so well. Seen online:

• “We live in the North East, this dusting should not make school virtual!”
• “My kids were so excited to go but now they have to be inside again... kids are suffering anxious for all this situation... it's ridiculous for this [dust] of snow they canceled it.”
• “Last week made lots of sense...but today? This is Jersey. We should be able to handle this much snow.”
• “Crazy disappointing. I know we have to think about bussing all over town but I worry that ‘virtual’ is always going to be the fallback decision.”

On Thursday, Cascone explained his thought process via a letter to the community. He wrote:

“I hope this finds you well and I do apologize for the early morning phone call this morning. It is never my preference to make decisions relative to school openings on such short notice.

“I understand that some of you may be frustrated by this decision and struggling to see the prudence and necessity for it. As the esteem in which my constituents hold me and the perceived credibility of my decision making are of the utmost importance to me as your superintendent, I thought I would provide you with some insights into my rationale.

“As of last night, the forecast was calling for between 0 and 1 inches in town. This morning at 4:30 a.m. when I consulted with our Directors of Buildings and Grounds and the DPW, I understood that there were up to 2 inches in some parts of the township as well as ice. Coupled with what you know are significant existing accumulations of snow drifts and mounds, as well as temperatures that are well below freezing, I had a critical decision to make within a very short amount of time that would be in the collective best interest.

“Would there be adequate time for all roads, all of our campuses to be properly cleared in time to transport students safely on our roads, and, with the disparate levels of snowfall throughout our state, adequate time for our valued staff members to travel safely?

“While I had collected some intelligence, I certainly did not have adequate time to survey the entire township and could only predict the required timeline for the work. Further, I also needed to consider our ability to safely and to adequately staff our schools. Other regions from which our staff travel have seen larger accumulations and therefore, staff would encounter difficulties arriving in a timely and safe manner.

“Ultimately, I could not confidently answer those questions, and therefore erred on the side of caution. You should know that typically this would have been a day where we would have called a delayed opening. However, as you are probably aware within the COVID environment that is not an option that is at our disposal.

“I hope now with a clear understanding as to the reason for my decision, your frustration with my decision might lean more towards appreciation for the highest standard of attention and discretion that I am applying relative to the safety and well-being of our community’s children and staff.”

Cascone offered the following updated schedule for Feb. 11 and Feb. 12.

“Frankly, I am happy that we have a superintendent that cares about the safety of our children and staff,” a local parent wrote online, giving Cascone’s decision a thumbs-up. “Our town’s size and topography make it very difficult to know how even a few inches of snow or ice will impact travel.”

“Anyone remember what happened a couple of years ago when kids were stranded in buses all over town?” they added. “My daughter was on a bus for six hours!”

• See related article: West Orange Students Trapped After Snow Stalls Buses (PHOTOS)
• See related article: West Orange Teachers Show True Grit When Snowstorm Traps Students

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