Middletown School Superintendent Defends Why She Chose A 2-Hour Delay Monday

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — At the Middletown school board meeting Tuesday night, superintendent Jessica Alfone addressed why she chose to have a two-hour delay on Monday, which some parents said caused an inconvenience, plus was unnecessary as Saturday night's snowstorm had occurred more than 24 hours earlier.

"Just so everyone is aware in the community, these decisions come with a lot of input," said Alfone. "We had a meeting with the mayor and Office of Emergency Management in town on Sunday afternoon to take stock of the roads, the potential for re-freeze, the sidewalk clearing ... at that point the decision was made to delay the opening for student safety. There was just too many sidewalks unclear, kids potentially waiting at bus stops; there were temperatures that were going to be well below freezing, with the potential for re-freeze and side streets not being clear, not to mention that we have staff coming in from counties away."

"I know it's an inconvenience, especially when you have little ones," Alfone continued, noting that the elementary schools opened at 11 a.m. Monday.

Had there not been a two-hour delay, the two Middletown high schools would have had staff and students commuting to them starting at 6 a.m. Monday.

"When it's dark and freezing and some of our roads are not extremely well lit," said Alfone. "We are going to err on the side of safety and with our students and staff."

Alfone speaks about the delayed opening at 2:18 of this video, right after she gave an update on the strategic planning (possible redistricting) in the Middletown school district:

Tuesday night was the final Middletown school board meeting for 2025. The next meeting will be in January and will be the school board's reorganization meeting, where the BOE chooses a new president and vice president.