MANCHESTER – Superintendent David Trethaway sent out an apology to parents regarding a power outage that caused the delay of the first day of school at Manchester Middle School.
At around 7 a.m., he received a call that a transformer malfunctioned, causing the outage, Trethaway wrote in a message to the community. The cause was later found to be a squirrel caught inside the transformer.
A plan had been made to bring the students elsewhere in case the repairs took a while, he said. Once the students arrived, they stayed in the buses while Jersey Central Power and Light reviewed the situation.
Since the repair was made quickly, there was no need to bus the students elsewhere, he said. They just started a little later. However, this delayed buses for the elementary schools as well. A phone call was put out to all parents as soon as it was possible to do so.
“While I apologize for the inconvenience, this was truly an unexpected occurrence on the first day of school. Please be assured that the buses will be arriving at the scheduled times tomorrow,” he wrote. He thanked the school staff, Manchester police, students, and parents for their understanding and patience.
Due to mold problems at Lakehurst Elementary School, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth graders from that school were being educated at Manchester Township Middle School as well.
