BY ROD HANSEN

Students at the local school won’t have to make up for time missed due to the April floods, if the state Department of Education grants the district a waiver.

Members of the School Board voted to request a waiver at their meeting on Wednesday, May 9. If granted, the waiver would allow the school to end its year Friday, June 22, rather than Tuesday, June 26.

Superintendent of Schools Darrell Lockwood will apply for the waiver through the commissioner of education, New Boston Central School Principal Rick Matthews said.

School Board member Jamie Neefe moved that Lockwood apply for the waiver. The motion passed unanimously without discussion.

The waiver will compensate for days lost to the spring nor’easter, which forced New Boston Central School to close the week of April 16-20.

Prior to voting to apply for the waiver, board members and Matthews spent the previous half-hour considering how the school could improve its emergency procedures in future natural disasters.

Many roads were closed throughout town during the storm’s first few days, cutting school bus transportation off from neighboring Goffstown.

Lockwood said he had been in communication with Matthews throughout the emergency, and also kept in contact with Road Agent John Riendeau to track the progress on road repair.

River Road posed one of the School District’s main concerns during the storm aftermath, Lockwood said.

That road, also known as Route 13, is the main thoroughfare connecting Goffstown and New Boston.

“Did I hound them about it? Absolutely. But I wasn’t pushing to have something opened prematurely,” Lockwood said.

Several communications measures could improve residents’ information in future emergencies, Lockwood said. He advocated adding an emergency section to the student handbook and updating the school Web site to include information on transportation options.

School Board member Kevin Collimore recommended using the school Web site to post directions. He noted that many of the calls to the Police Department during the storm involved people seeking alternate routes to their homes.

Travel to and from the school was difficult during the emergency because the road in front of the building had washed out, Matthews said. Families using the school as an emergency evacuation center had to get there via a special access road behind the school.

A total of 11 families went to the school for evacuation purposes, while approximately five stayed overnight, Matthews said.

Lockwood and Matthews said many of their problems during the storm occurred trying to communicate with the media.

Although Goffstown and New Boston are both a part of School Administrative Unit 19, Matthews said some outlets failed to understand that New Boston could be closed while Goffstown was not.

“Some of (the media outlets) had a hard time separating Goffstown from New Boston,” Matthews said.

To supply parents with the latest information at times of failed Internet access and power outages, Lockwood also recommended establishing a system where Matthews can leave a voice mail message informing parents of the latest developments.