Page 8 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • December 12, 2012 Franklin Lakes Trustees make adjustments to school calendar by Frank J. McMahon Franklin Lakes school district officials have decided on two alternative schedules to make up the four emergency closing days lost as a result of the power outage caused by Hurricane Sandy. The school district had included three inclement weather days in the original calendar, but the local schools were closed for four days as a result of the Oct. 29 storm. As a result, one day must be added to the calendar and provisions must be made for the potential of additional weather-related closings during the balance of the school year. Superintendent Frank Romano advised the members of the school community and the faculty and staff that if no additional closings are required this school year, one day would be added to the end of the school calendar. Students would have an instructional day on June 26, which would be the last day of school for students. June 27 would be the last school day for teachers. If more than the one day is required, those days would be taken from the April spring break and used as school days starting with Friday, April 12 and moving back to Monday, April 8 as needed. June 25 would be the last school day for students and June 26 would be the last day of school for teachers. Parents and guardians have also been advised that no plans that cannot be changed should be made prior to June 30, and the board of education reserves the right to modify the calendar as may be deemed necessary. That includes reducing or eliminating vacation periods. Midland Park On Nov. 20, a Hill Street resident’s home was burglarized sometime between 9:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m. Entry was gained through an unlocked side door. The Bergen County Sheriff’s Department BCI responded to process the scene. The residents reported that an iPhone, iPad, and jewelry, collectively valued at $12,400, had been taken. Officers Kenneth Junta and Thomas Bedoe investigated. The case was forwarded to the detective bureau. Officer Kevin Van Dyk took a report on Dec. 3 from an employee of a local business who reported a fraudulent Borough Police Department Report check transaction. The check in the amount of $1,770 was cashed by someone other than the payee. The case is under investigation. On Dec. 4, a resident of Ramsey reported to Officer Junta that fraudulent charges were made on his debit card. He said the last time he used the card was at a business in Midland Park on Nov. 30. The fraudulent charges, with all the purchases made online, began on Dec. 1 and continued through Dec. 4. The charges amounted to more than $610. The matter was forwarded to the detective bureau. Romano informed the school community, however, that the Colonial Road School, High Mountain Road School, and the Woodside Avenue School Grade 5 Moving Up Ceremonies will take place as planned on Friday, June 21. In addition, the Franklin Avenue Middle School graduation will take place on its originally scheduled date of Tuesday, June 25. He explained that, although scheduling the middle school graduation earlier was considered, various factors such as the storm-related school closings, the complexity of scheduling end-of-year events, and the need to plan on a single session day, precluded the school district from doing so. “The school board and the administration understand that changes in our calendar tend to cause varying degrees of inconvenience, and they understand the need to strike some balance between our number one priority of preserving quality instructional time and the very important needs and wants of our school community,” Romano stated in a letter to the school community. He pointed out, however, that local weather predictions indicate that following the snow drought during the winter of 2011-12, the Middle Atlantic area and southern New England are expected to get a “snow dump” this winter and above-normal snowfall is forecast for the major 1-95 cities, including New York City during the winter of 2012-13. “The rough winter that lies ahead, the recent loss of our three emergency days, and the deficit of one school day have led to the calendar revisions,” Romano explained. The school district surveyed the parents/guardians and (continued on page 22) April vacation (continued from page 5) approve the change in the 2012-13 calendar to take April 3, 4 and 5, 2013 from the traditional spring break, leaving April 1 and 2 as the recess days. April 3, 4 and 5 will be regular school days. Board President William Sullivan said board members felt it was more appropriate to follow indications printed on the annual calendar relative to emergency closings. The calendar states: “If deemed necessary by unexpected closings, the April vacation may also be abbreviated in part or in whole; therefore, plans that cannot be changed should never be made to include the April vacation.” Previous board discussions had included the possibil- ity of reducing the February break, but trustees felt there would still be a chance that other emergency days would be needed later in the winter, affecting two vacations. Trustees voted last month to make up a fourth day lost during the October storm by requiring students to attend a half day of school on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, Jan. 21. That day had been previously designated as a professional development day. The staff development session will now be conducted following the students’ early dismissal. Two of the days were made up immediately by opening school on the days when ordinarily they would have been closed for the New Jersey Education Association’s convention, which was cancelled due to the storm. Two emergency days were already built into the 2012-13 school calendar, and they can be applied to this school closing if no additional days are needed.