Island Park Superintendent Rosmarie Bovino answers parents questions

When pictures began circulating on social media showing Francis X. Hegarty Elementary School surrounding by flooding, many parents wondered why the school was not closed. Dr. Rosemarie Bovino issued this statement:

“I began watching the weather reports and conferring with my colleagues at 4AM. None of the weather reports that the Superintendents received predicted the flooding we experienced.

Usually, I try to make a decision regarding school closings or delayed openings by 5:30 a.m. so parents are notified no later than 6 a.m. The flooding did not begin until nearly two hours later. The transportation supervisor contacted me on my way to the district offices. At that time, early morning buses were making their pickups. There was never a time that LOMS students could not be dropped off. About 150 students had arrived at FXH when the water became impassable at Hegarty. We had about 500 students in the district at that time. Nevertheless, I notified all parents through our electronic messaging system that there would be another bus run at 11 a.m. Gradually, water on Warwick Rd receded. By 11:15 a.m., we had an attendance roster for the district that was down about 88 students from the usual total of 772. There were some streets that, unfortunately, remained impassable due to the coastal surge. Even a delayed bus pickup did not help those families. All but three teachers were in attendance. Hence, there was full instruction taking place.

It is very difficult to know what the tides will do and how the waters will ebb and flow. The children’s safety is always our first concern; our second concern is to keep the schools operational so that as many children as possible have as little disruption to their learning as possible. We encourage parents to keep their child home if their particular situation warrants it. For those children who could not make it to school today, we have made today an “excused absence,” which does not require a parent’s note. “