Sometimes the best days off are the ones that aren’t expected; the out-of-the-blue snow days that cover the world in a layer of white, fluffy magic, and just so happen to cancel school in the process. In our district, four days are held in reserve in case of poor weather conditions or for emergency circumstances that may arise.
In years past, snow has seemed to bypass Wayne, and instead of getting a maximum of four unexpected days off, the unused days have been added to Memorial Day break. However, in the 2025-2026 school year, the weather seems to have gotten the idea that winter in New Jersey is meant to be extra snowy, leading to two snow days so far. Schools were closed on January 26, using our first of four emergency days, and another day off on February 23, for another heavy snowstorm.
Unfortunately, this year, New Jersey needed to have two extra special election days. The county did not approve remote days for the election. The first emergency day we used for the primary election was on February 5. We are also scheduled to have a special election on April 16 to fill the vacant seat in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, which consists of Passaic, Essex, and Morris Counties. The winner of this election will serve in the House of Representatives for our district. As a result of this, two voting days had to be scheduled, one on February 5 for the primary election and one on April 16 for the special election, in turn causing the planning of the usage of two emergency days.
Several schools throughout Wayne are used as voting sites and are unable to be open for students on these days, leading to automatic days off anytime there is an election. Even though the district has four emergency days in case of situations like this, two elections and a snowy winter very quickly deplete the small stock of days that we hold in reserve. If the snow continues, we may lose days from our spring break.
Although for many educators and students, the use of online platforms such as Google Meet and Zoom was difficult and not something many people look back on with positive thoughts, it offered schools the ability to function during a time when it was not possible for them to be open. Our eyes had all been opened to this world of technology that could be used in case of emergencies, and yet we seem to neglect that they are still plausible options. If schools cannot be open because of their use as voting sites, why not simply run school virtually on election days, saving emergency days for days with unsafe weather conditions?
