District called back buses in middle of run

Warwick — Dr. Frank Greenhall, superintendent of Warwick schools, had called the two-hour delay for Monday the night before. So, the buses started rolling at 8 a.m. Monday morning. “We wanted to be able to see the roads in the morning before sending the buses out there,” said Greenhall. “Then a call came from the town about bad roads.” By the time middle schoolers were heading out for their buses, Greenhall said he got that call from the town warning him of unsafe road conditions. “When the town tells me the roads around are not safe, we don’t question it,” Greenhall said. “We erred on the side of safety, two hours later.” Both the town and village declared emergency situations later in the day. The village, where the Wawayanda Creek overflowed and forced the closings of several local roads, declared a state of emergency by 11 a.m. The town’s declaration came later in the afternoon. Greenhall turned the middle school buses around at approximately 9:35 a.m. Elementary schools didn’t open at all Monday, and high school students were dismissed at 10:15 a.m. The town also asked that the district not put its buses on the roads on Tuesday in order to fix the damage done by about eight inches of rain that fell between Sunday and Monday. Greenhall said the district’s buildings and vehicles received no significant damage from the storm. Aside from a few leaks and some replaceable ceiling tiles, the property remained unscathed. “We had nothing compared to what some people have experienced,” said Greenhall.