Even the mayor said he's never seen it this bad in Vernon Township.
Spring break is cancelled in snow-bound Vernon Township and students will be attending classes until the last week in June.
The public school district called off classes for a 12th day Tuesday as yet another snowstorm was dropping up to six inches of snow on northwestern N.J.
Schools closed for three days last week due to the impact of back-to-back nor'easters. The district lost three days in February, three days in January and one day in December, in addition to five days so far in March.
@VernonTwpSD Schools will be closed on Wednesday, March 7, 2018 due to the impending snowstorm. Be safe and keep warm! pic.twitter.com/qqgZr3E712
-- VTSD (@VernonTwpSD) March 7, 2018
"I've never seen it like this before, and I've been here 20-something years," Vernon Mayor Harry Shortway said.
"Everybody's getting upset, but what are you going to do," he said.
Originally, the 2017/18 schedule included a five-day spring break starting April 2 and listed June 14 as the last day of classes.
However, it included a catch: Spring break would be cancelled if five snow days were used by March 15, Vernon Schools Superintendent Arthur DiBenedetto said Monday, with any additional closures made up in June.
When the fifth day was called Feb. 2, the district announced that schools would stay closed as planned April 2, the day after Easter, but reopen for the rest of the now-rescinded spring break week.
N.J. law requires at least 180 classroom days.
In addition to the 12 district-wide closures, classes at Vernon Township High School were cancelled Monday, Dec. 4, to complete repairs following a Friday night fire.
On Monday afternoon, before the 12th cancellation was announced, DiBenedetto said the high school's graduation ceremony was tentatively scheduled for June 27.
Getting a later start last September added to the scheduling challenges.
Classes in Vernon did not begin until Sept. 8, following three in-service days for teachers.
Looking ahead, DiBenedetto said he will discuss with teachers the possibility of moving the in-service days to August, which would enable the district to start earlier -- and perhaps salvage the next spring break.
Vernon is home to the Mountain Creek ski resort and typically has more snow days than other school districts in the region. The elevation in the Highland Lakes section is above 1,200 feet.
The township is the largest in Sussex County and has more than 100 miles of roads, adding to the challenge of keeping schools open in winter weather.
There are six public schools in Vernon, including three elementary schools and two middle schools, and more than 3,000 students are enrolled.
Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RobJenningsNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook