Solar Eclipse Prompts Early Dismissals For Some NJ Schools

NEW JERSEY - Several school districts around the Garden State will dismiss students early on April 8 due to the Great American Solar Eclipse of 2024.

Livingston Schools, Pennsauken Public Schools, Burlington Township and Cherry Hill Public Schools will all implement early dismissals on April 8, with school officials primarily citing safety concerns, according to announcements posted on district websites. The latest dismissal will be at 1 p.m., roughly an hour before the eclipse is set to begin in the region.

New Jersey isn’t in the direct path of the eclipse, but the Garden State will still see some blockage of the sun – it just won’t be as dramatic. According to a NASA map, 90 percent of the sun will be covered at the peak of the eclipse at 3:24 p.m. The eclipse is expected to be visible in the state between 2:09 and 4:35 p.m.

Garden State skies will darken as if it were dawn and the Sun’s corona, or outer atmosphere, will be visible, NASA said in a statement. Eye safety will be the number one priority when viewing a total solar eclipse, and those seeking to look directly at the phenomenon must wear specialized eye protection designed for solar viewing, the agency said.

Related: You Must Protect Your Eyes, Regardless Of Eclipse Totality: What You Need

“Since the eclipse will occur during our regularly scheduled school dismissal times, many of our students would be outside and unsupervised during the eclipse,” Livingston Superintendent Matthew Block said in a statement.

“Unless children are properly supervised, they could be drawn to look at the eclipse, and would likely do so that day at dismissal. Without the proper equipment, this can cause damage to their eyes.”

“We have had extensive discussion regarding the risk of serious eye damage from looking at the sun during an eclipse without proper eye protection,” Cherry Hill Superintendent Kwame Morton wrote in a letter to district families, adding that after-school child care will be closed and after school activities will be canceled.

It will be March 30, 2033, before another total solar eclipse touches the United States, and that’s only on the tip of Alaska. It’ll be Aug. 12, 2044, before the next eclipse sweeps across the lower 48 states, with parts of Montana and North Dakota experiencing totality. Read More: The 2024 Great American Solar Eclipse Is A Really Big Deal: Here's Why

Even so, the majority of school districts around the state will be following a normal schedule on April 8.

In response to parents' questions about district plans during the upcoming eclipse, Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District Superintendent Robert Beers said it will be dark for students coming home from school but bus drivers are used to driving in the dark when they pick up the high school students in the morning.

"Our bus drivers are familiar with driving in those conditions and it's not going to be pitched black like midnight. But it will be an interesting development," the school official said at a March 26 Board of Education meeting.

Classrooms throughout the district also have activities planned for students to learn about the eclipse, Beers added.