UPDATE (2:34 PM) A Letter to Families From Superintendent Kourt on Snow/Virtual Days

UPDATE 2:34 PM

Dear Families,

Earlier today I sent you a message regarding the possibility of us having to call a virtual day in case we run out of our 5 snow day allotment. We just received confirmation that Governor Hochul has called a state of emergency ahead of a major Nor’easter forecasted to impact both Columbia and Rensselaer counties this week. According to NY state school attendance policy, if the governor calls a state of emergency in a school district’s county, schools do not have to use an emergency closing day nor make up the school day. With this update, we will most likely not have to utilize a virtual learning day this week. To lessen the confusion we will not be sending Chrome books home with our elementary students nor sending work home. All students will have to do is enjoy any possible snow days that this weather may bring.

I will be in touch soon to notify families of any school closings this week due to inclement weather. See NY Governor Hochul’s press release on the recent state of emergency: https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-declare-state-emergency-ahead-major-noreaster-forecast-impact-upstate-regions

Thanks for your support and be safe.

Andrew Kourt

Original Communication 12:51 PM

Dear Families,

This year the district embedded 5 emergency closing days into our district calendar. At this moment WBH has used 4 of those days (3 weather-related and 1 due to a boiler malfunction.).The Jr./Sr. High School has used 3 emergency days all due to inclement weather. This leaves WBH with one emergency closing day left and the Jr/Sr. High School with two days left. The New York State Regents has given districts the ability to call virtual days due to emergencies. If either building exhausts the 5 days we will be utilizing this virtual option. The alternative is to take days away from April break, which we are not looking to do.

As I am sure you have heard wintery weather is in the forecast for this week. Being that we are close to using all of our snow days we want to plan ahead and make sure we are able to utilize a virtual day if we need to. Today each child in grades K-12 will be bringing their district-assigned Chromebook home just in case we need to utilize a virtual day. A virtual day would look different depending on the child’s grade level. All virtual days will include teacher assignments and a couple of opportunities to meet virtually with their teacher using Google Meets.

Your child’s principal and teacher will send more specific information home if we need to utilize a virtual day. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. Stay safe.

Fondly,

Andrew Kourt
Superintendent of Schools