Outages close Fox Lane campus two weeks in a row

By JEFF MORRIS 

Unless you were there in person, the Dec. 10 Bedford Central Board of Education meeting is one that will be lost to history. That’s because a campus power outage prevented the meeting from being livestreamed or recorded — and there’s a squirrel to thank for that.

According to the district, last Wednesday’s outage at the Fox Lane campus was caused by “a squirrel that made contact with the wires and shorted out two of the three phases.”

Initially, Superintendent Robert Glass had sent a message to parents saying they assumed power would be restored in time for school on Thursday, Dec. 11. However, on Thursday morning a three-hour delay was called, but when it became clear that power would not be back up in time, both Fox Lane High School and Fox Lane Middle School were closed. The Central Office was able to run on a generator. 

That same scenario was repeated this week, though not because of a squirrel.

On Wednesday morning, Dec. 17, the district reported that due to a vehicle accident on Route 172, which according to reports took down a utility pole, “NYSEG will need to shut off power for a few hours.” 

Fox Lane Middle School and Fox Lane High School had an emergency dismissal at 9:30 a.m. and students were taken home by their regular buses. Once again, the Central Office remained open, as did all elementary schools. 

As for the Dec. 10 BOE meeting, it was able to be held despite the power outage because generator power allowed for interior lighting.

According to a message sent to parents by Glass on the evening of Dec. 10, they had lost power to the Fox Lane Campus, and had no information at the time as to the cause or a restoration time. 

“We will be proceeding with the regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting momentarily, as we have generator power for interior lighting,” he said. “Unfortunately, it appears the use of generator power renders us unable to livestream or record the meeting as we normally do. Anyone wishing to attend the meeting is welcome to do so in person as always.”

The district later posted a brief summary of what was on the agenda. It included special presentations, featuring an elementary schools update by building principals; an update from Arris Construction on the capital bond Phase 2A and a Maintenance Building plan, with the board approving bid plans, specifications, and related building documents, and a Pupil Personnel Services department update. There was also a public hearing on the amended District Safety Plan, which the board adopted.

The meeting also included these announcements from the superintendent:

— New Director of Facilities Tim Walsh began in the district on Wednesday.

— Steve Thompson was thanked for his time and work in the district; he will stay on two to three days a week as needed.

— Northwell Health Clinic onboarding has begun; a community meeting is being planned for January.

— A new PA system has been successfully installed at Pound Ridge Elementary School

Of course, not having a video would have been standard procedure prior to the advent of televised board meetings, when written minutes from the district secretary were the only documentation that remained. But BCSD was an early adopter of televised meetings, with the creation of BCSD-TV as a cable channel and the subsequent ability to post videos-on-demand. The channel existed at least as far back as 2013, and the earliest meeting videos currently available go back to the organizational meeting of July 2, 2019.

Dec. 10, 2025 is not one of them.