Emergency school closings & delays
All school closings and delays will be posted at the top of the district home page
Inclement weather and dangerous roads can affect the school day
The decision to delay the opening of school, dismiss early or close school for the day due to weather conditions is never an easy one. Our priority is always the safety of the children.
Any decision to delay opening, dismiss early or close must begin early. Our Transportation Supervisors arrive at the Bus Garage by 3:30 a.m. After consulting weather reports and checking road conditions, the Transportation Director consults with the Highway Departments for additional road information. The Superintendent is consulted and any decision to delay or close must be made no later than 5:45 a.m. If there is a delayed opening but weather conditions continue to be a problem, the district must determine whether to close by 7:45 a.m.
Decisions to delay opening by one or two hours, dismiss early or close are not taken lightly. We want the children of the district to have uninterrupted and continuous instruction.
We are sensitive to the inconvenience to parents who must make arrangements for their children if school is delayed, dismissed early or closed but safety must take precedence over all other considerations.
Radio and Television
Parents can get information by listening to the radio and television stations which broadcast delayed openings, early dismissals, and closing announcements.
The following radio and television stations carry our announcements: WALL, WVOS, WJFF, Thunder 102, WSUL, WELV, WDNH, WRRN-TV, WGYN, WPDH, WHUD, and FOX 5.
School Web site or School Closing Hotline
Parents can also access school closing information on the homepage of the district website at www.monticelloschools.net, or by calling the School Closing Hotline at 845-796-5006 for a current recorded message.
PLEASE NOTE: When there is a closing or delay a message is recorded with the date of the incident. The message is updated ONLY when there is a new message about a new closing or delay. If a person calls the Hotline and hears an old message, that means there is no updated information at that time and schools are running on their regular schedules.
School News Notifier (SNN)
Parents who have signed-up for the School News Notifier service, will get closing and delay information e-mailed to them directly.
Delayed openings mean all schedules will be delayed either one or two hours. Bus pickups will be approximately one or two hours later than the scheduled time.
If parents are concerned with the conditions of the roads in their neighborhood, they are advised to use their own judgment in making the decision about sending their children to school on that day.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the school closing procedures outlined above, please call Superintendent of Schools Dr. Patrick Michel at 794-7700.
Please know that we sincerely appreciate your cooperation and support in our efforts to guard the safety of all our students.
What happens when a district uses up all its scheduled Snow Emergency Days?
The following is a reminder regarding the 180 days of session requirement in Education Law and what happens if the requirement is not met [reference Education Law section 3604 (7)]:
1. Districts must provide 180 days of session to receive full Foundation Aid. Foundation Aid will be reduced by 1/180th for each day below 180 days.
2. Included in the 180 days are days on which attendance is taken, days on which Regents examinations (including “rating” days), State Assessments or local examinations are given and up to four days on which superintendent's conference days are held.
3. Since superintendent’s conference days already count toward the 180 days, changing a scheduled superintendent’s conference day to a day of instruction does not increase the number of session days.
4. If a district falls below 180 days of session, upcoming scheduled vacation days must be used to make up the shortfall.
5. Session days, including superintendent’s conference days, should not be scheduled on Saturdays, legal holidays or after the June Regents Examination period.
6. If a district falls below 180 days of session after all available scheduled
vacation days have been used as session days, the district may apply to the
State Aid Office to have the Foundation Aid penalty waived for up to five days.
Click here for more information:
https://stateaid.nysed.gov/attendance/additional_info_extraordinary_conditions.htm
7. If a district falls below 180 days of session, and cannot obtain a waiver, the district must report the actual session day information on the SAMS Form A Schedules A1 through A5 the following fall. The State Aid Office will then make the required deduction of aid during that State Aid claim year. This aid deduction will be displayed on the General Aids (GEN) output report.