Dear Families,
As we enter the cold winter months, I want to clarify information regarding school closures and delays due to inclement weather.
The New York State Education Department (NYSED) has introduced a snow day pilot, which allows districts to go remote in response to inclement weather/closings. Districts have the option to implement remote learning on days that would otherwise be a snow day for the 2020-21 school year.
Questar III BOCES will not be participating in the state’s snow day pilot. Depending on the severity of the winter weather season we may need to make modifications to this plan, which we will communicate in the coming months if the need arises. At this time, school closures and two-hour delays will be implemented as they have in years past. We will not implement remote learning on snow days.
School closures and two-hour delays for Questar III programs are dependent on a variety of factors including transportation, as a number of our students travel from great distances.
Our schools housed in component district buildings including Catskill Academy, Rensselaer Academy, Educational Center at Maple Hill and Questar III at Columbia High School will typically follow closures/delays set forth by the district in which our programs live. Example: If the Rensselaer City School District is closed due to inclement weather, Rensselaer Academy will likely follow suit.
School closures and two-hour delays will be communicated through your child’s school administration via SchoolMessenger and local news stations.
Two-hour delays look different for our full-day and half-day programs.
Half-Day Programs (Includes our CTE and New Visions Programs)
If our Rensselaer Educational Center or our Columbia-Greene Educational Center has a two-hour delay, there will be no morning classes, but afternoon classes will operate as normal. There will be no New Visions programs on days with two-hour delays.
Full-Day Programs (Includes our Special Education Programs)
Students will arrive at their school two hours later than the normal start time and follow a condensed schedule for that day.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Sincerely,
Anthony J. Taibi
Chief Academic Officer
anthony.taibi@questar.org
