Schools Closings/Delays 2/12-13
Just saw on Facebook..All Hackettstown Schools will be closed tomorrow due to expected weather conditions..
joyful 
Botheredbyuu2 Actually better to be safe than sorry....Knowing tonight helps people make arrangements for tomorrow
citychick 
auntiel why would they tell the kids the night before???
1) they are missing out on the joy of the suspense
2) they're going to be up all night bothering the parents
Reggie Voter Oxford Central School and all Washington Twp. (Warren) schools are closed tomorrow as well.
Calico696 Reggie Voter I have to break the news to you we live in a I want it now world so give it to me now
as I pick up some snow a toss it at Calico and say your it and baby its cold out side
Caged Animal Can society get any softer??? 3" of snow and all hell breaks loose. Pretty funny yet so sad at the same time.
LJRubi I remember the Ed Rendell quote … it was when the Eagles postponed a game because a total blizzard was coming … a real monster!
Locally I remember a Friday night football game in 2002 with Jefferson playing at Mount Olive …. we did the game on WRNJ radio … we had a big snowstorm and all the schools were closed … but I still called the Mount Olive AD to make sure the game was called off … just doing my due diligence. He shocked me when he said, "of course we're playing tonight … we aren't sissies." An hour before kickoff a bunch of volunteers were plowing the parking lots and the field itself … clearing bleachers with snow blowers … and it was frigging cold … the only time as a broadcaster I ever needed hand warmers!
It was the only game played in New Jersey that night … and Mount Olive was loud and proud after their 14-13 win.
Andy Loigu It doesn't take much to make the roads slick and dangerous and after that November storm, I personally have less than zero confidence in our state's ability to keep the roads clear. I don't care that they are overcompensating now, other than the egregious cost to tax payers. For working parents, making the decision tonight helps them plan childcare tomorrow. Why not just stay in and safe if you can to keep the roads clear for first responders and others that have jobs that are essential to public health and well being?
Somechick1 Lawyers??? I suspect that in this litigious world we live in , everyone must protect themselves from any potential reason for a lawsuit. Therefore, better safe than sorry.
Their first thought is not “ is 3 inches of snow safe to drive on”, but rather “will someone sue me if I don’t tell them to not drive, or to be careful , and they have an accident .“
BTW: Do be careful and have a nice day.
JBJSKJ States , counties and local municipalities cannot be sued for not plowing or keeping roads clear...otherwise there would be alot of millonaires after suing essex county
Bug3
Skippy So let me get this straight...
The National Weather Service is calling for an icy hazardous commute more than 24 hours in advance, and you're faulting the very people you entrust your children with for making a decision that attempts to ensure your children's safety? I'm hearing this correct, right?
It was never about snow, always about ICE.
This storm didn't bust, all meteorologists (and they operate under the principles of physics..so it's science and not magic) said that this is a tough storm to call because of when certain layers of the atmosphere will warm up. Even reading the NWS products they all say that it's hard to call and the totals were given out in low confidence. BUT, they all agreed on ice and they all agreed that a commute would be tricky.
Check it out for yourself https://www.weather.gov/phi/ This is where you should get your weather, nowhere else.
The same lot of you would be stringing up the same people if God forbid a bus with kids got into a serious accident because the roads were icy. You can't have it both ways; you can't "damned if you do, damned if you don't" a school's decision like this. This decision isn't made in isolation, either. Cops, road crews, county emergency response teams...they all contribute what they know to help district personnel make the best decision in the interest of keeping the most people safe.
And a state of emergency just clears red tape and frees up funding so that the right people can be out there doing their jobs to the fullest extent. I bet if you ask any DPW people what kind of traffic they'd like to contend with when cleaning roads they'll tell you as few cars as possible. Any governor would be remiss if he or she didn't declare this. If you don't like it then the Legislature should change laws to expedite stuff like this so that a governor doesn't have to declare.
As for this nation of wussies crap, grow up. Knock it off. It's not even a valid point. Go home, grandma.
CommonSenseForOnce All true, but what happens when the area gets another 100" winter, would a day such as today qualify to keep schools closed?
iJay CommonSenseForOnce +1
....and iJay, regardless of what else the winter brings the answer is yes.
Jessie 
Does anyone know schedule for Hackettstown Middle School tomorrow - they have a half day and a 90 minute delay. Is it simply 9:40-12:25 ?
Thanks
Jpb3302 iJay yes. Each closing is its own decision independent of the others. And we haven’t had a 100” winter, so hyperbole isn’t necessary. You deal with what you get as you get it. It’s not that hard to grasp the concept.
Jgb3302 when that happened during HS midterms and they were supposed to have half days but we had all those delayed openings they just got released at the regular time instead.
jrsemom 
Just Saying.... I think Hackettstown Middle School will be going to regular closing as I was called to work there tomorrow until 3. I think they would have to get 4 hours in to call it a full day. If they don't go until the regular closing time they couldn't call a delay. It's better than closing and having to make it up.
magpie HMS schedule is on the front page of their website. Doors do not open until 9:30, students will not be let in before that. Conferences still occurring. No after school activities.
tripsy keep schools closed during these cold / snow ice days and just extend school into the summer ……………..imagine that ..save on heat, keep people out of harms way .
But wait ...that will run into teachers summer follies ...oh no , cant have common sense prevail......just my opinion.
Safety should be the utmost priority !
steven 
rose 
littlelu Steven-seriously? No matter what side people are on, it's always the teacher's fault?They can't win, can they? Summer follies...yep, all teachers just have the summer off, none of them work, what a crock of bull you're trying to dish out.
Can we just keep this about the weather, and safety?
Warren Hills and Mansfield are no closed too.
Tried walking the dog this morning, it’s very icy out even on the roads so we only made it about a mile.
Snow Tripsy +1
Steven your comments, like iJay’s and Calico’s, do nothing to propel conversation. They are utterly worthless.
Worthless is a powerful binary statement. Such strong bias, if inverted, might lead to the majority of YOUR thought to be labelled so...
GreyHawk 
Help The only ice I encountered was on my back steps. Roads were clear. I guess DPWs in my area did a good job.
Philliesman 
John C "What is there not to get it's icy out Common Sense people common sense"
sorry but if you shoveled and salted last night you woke up to a nice clean property. That the difference between those of us that used common sense and planned ahead and those that didn't use common sense and woke up surprised that rain turns to ice when left untreated.
Jim L Guilty, Jim L... I fell for the NWS forecast that temperatures would rise into the mid-to-upper 30s and stay there overnight and figured that the non-freezing rain would melt off a bunch of the sleet, giving me an easier job of it this morning instead of shoveling in the rain last night. Live and learn...
ianimal The tiny bit I shovelled last night at 8:30p was full ice this AM. I saw the forecast last night and the reality was that the rain was coming down and freezing well past midnight. I decided against shovelling the rest of my place last night and opted for this AM to shovel.
I think I made the right choice as the snow underneath gave me a nice clean up without having that slick ice to worry about this AM instead. (and luckily my work started late today, so I had the AM time to get this done before I left)
The Rhyme Animal iJay you're deflecting; you have no argument.
Philliesfan these kids will be fine. You're also deflecting.
Delays and cancellations have nothing to do with self sufficiency. These kids aren't plowing or salting the roads themselves in order to get to school, so you're making no sense.
I saw plenty of kids shoveling their parents driveways and salting walks. They had on winter clothes and we're using shovels and ice breakers. Seems they know how to clear snow and ice just fine.
Can we just keep this about the weather, and safety?.....really ????
So if a school bus crashed and children were injured , what parent would not be the 1st to state "they should not have been out in this weather" ?
Think how much monies would be saved by closing schools during these bad weather days....no need to take bus on road …huge liability no longer a concern.
Turn thermostats down to 60 in the schools when no one there to open doors for hours at a time each day .
Point I was making about teachers, they are just like the parents.....anything that inconveniences them , they bitch about.....How about doing things that are cost effective and safe for all , especially the children !??
You remember them …..isn't it about keeping them safe ??
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