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November 2024

Dear NECSD students, families, faculty, and staff,

As the winter months begin, I am writing with some information to help remind and clarify the practices the district uses to determine if/when a delay, closure, or early dismissal is necessary. These circumstances are typically utilized for weather conditions, however, they may be utilized for any type of scenario that may require a change to our standard schedule. 

The district calendar has four (4) emergency days built into the school year calendar, as listed on our district website. In the event that the district exhausts all eligible emergency days, additional instructional days will be scheduled as needed and communicated with our families toward the end of the winter season. 

Communication:

School closings, delayed openings, and early dismissals resulting from weather conditions or other emergency situations will be shared directly with our NECSD community via email and robocall, posted on the NECSD website and social media channels (@NewburghSchools) as well as provided to the local media. Please make sure your contact information is up to date so you receive these messages directly. As soon as a decision is made, our communications team is notified and shares the message with our community within minutes. 

Robocalls made by the district will come from the phone number: 845-563-3455. Robocalls coming from a school building should come from the main number of that building. We suggest that families, faculty, and staff add these numbers as contacts in their phones. Some cell phone carriers will mark the calls as spam and at times the calls may bypass the alert system on your phone sending the call directly to voicemail. The section for spam voicemails may be different than the section for voicemails from contacts.

Decision-making Factors:

There are many different factors that are considered when making a decision to close, delay, or dismiss early. The safety of our students, families, faculty, and staff remains our number one priority. We hope to make a decision with ample notice to our school community, but there may be occasions when shorter notice is given. We appreciate your understanding as we work to consider multiple factors. 

Our most frequent reason for a change in schedule is due to weather-related scenarios. Over the course of the day/night, when a storm is in the forecast, some of the factors taken into consideration by our team include, but may not be limited to:        

• Circumstances (Precipitation, temperature, power and/or water outages, trees/power lines blocking roadways, alleged threats, etc.)
• Weather conditions from the National Weather Service, paying close attention to the forecasted duration of the storm as well as the severity,
• Road conditions reported by the N.Y.S. Department of Transportation as well as local town and county transportation departments,
• Local road conditions are monitored by members of our team who drive throughout the district paying close attention to neighborhood roads, reduced visibility, closed roads, washed-out roadways, downed wires, ability for school buses to pass through roads, etc.,
• Conditions of school properties, in collaboration with our Buildings and Grounds staff, to ensure that we can have school parking lots and sidewalks plowed and cleared in time for arrivals,
• Surrounding school districts to understand weather conditions and the impact on those districts and for out-of-district placements,
• Duration of a storm and ongoing temperatures to determine the necessity of a delay, closure, or early dismissal and timeliness of a decision. 

Delayed openings:

Delayed openings mean all schedules will be delayed by a designated amount of time, usually one or two hours, but times may vary. Bus pickups will be approximately the designated amount of time (usually one or two hours) later than the regularly scheduled pick-up time, depending on the delay for that day. Although not as common, the district may call for a three-hour delay if necessary. The most common delay is a two-hour delay.

Please continue to monitor all opening delays, as they could turn into school closings, depending on the weather. Below, please find some frequently asked questions about a two-hour delay. 

Schools will dismiss on their regular schedule when there is a delayed opening.

Why is a delay used?:

Although some may enjoy extra time to sleep, a two-hour (2) delay gives additional time for everyone to arrive at school safely. Additional time allows for roads to be cleared, plowed, and salted by local municipalities for safer travel. Additional time also provides more daylight to assist in safe travel. This time also allows for additional time for travel, as vehicles may need to be cleared off, warmed up, and driven more slowly to arrive at school safely. 

Example:

A two-hour (2) delay is the most common delay that is utilized, so examples are provided using that scenario. For different delays, the information will remain similar, but times would be adjusted to match the delay duration.

On a two-hour (2) delay schedule, all schools and district buildings will open two hours (2) later than they normally would. For example, if your child’s school starts at 8:15am (Tier 2) every day, on a two-hour (2) delay schedule, their school will start at 10:15am that day.

School buses will arrive at the regular bus stop approximately two (2) hours later than they normally would. 

Lunches will be served. Dismissal will remain the same. Students should arrive home at the same time as they normally would at the end of the day.

Early dismissals:

When the weather becomes severe during the day and driving conditions are anticipated to become unsafe, or when a state of emergency due to road conditions is declared by the state or county law enforcement, the district may consider an early dismissal. Early dismissal decisions take into consideration the magnitude of the transportation operations, the number of buses required to transport students home, and in many instances, the possibility that young students may be going home to an empty house. Typically, the decision is made by mid-morning for an early afternoon dismissal. When an early dismissal is being considered, typically all after-school activities are canceled. Early dismissal notifications will be sent using the same methods described for delays and closings.

Early dismissal schedules:

Please refer to the following standard schedule for half-day dismissals throughout the year below. Dismissal times may vary for an emergency dismissal, but the district will try to follow this schedule as possible. Dismissal schedules for unscheduled dismissals will be communicated when announcing the dismissal:

Heritage and South Middle schools, and all NFA campuses - 10:15AM (Tier 1)

GAMS, Meadow Hill, Temple Hill, and Vails Gate STEAM Academy – 11:15AM (Tier 2)

Balmville, Fostertown, Gardnertown, Horizons, New Windsor and Pre-K @ GAMS – 12:15PM (Tier 3)

*Dismissal times are approximate. Please contact your child's school building directly if you have questions about your specific school building.

Students will receive meals with modifications made due to the shortened schedule. This may vary for emergency dismissals.

After-School and Evening Activity Cancellations:

The decision to cancel after-school and evening activities is typically made by mid-day and publicized using the methods described above. If the district is closed for the day, after-school activities and evening classes are typically canceled as well.

Thank you for your continued patience as we work together to provide a safe learning environment for our entire school community. As a parent of school-aged children, I know the difficulties of managing a working schedule with that of my children. I appreciate your understanding and patience as these scenarios arise. 

Sincerely,

Dr. J. Manning Campbell
Superintendent of Schools

Previously shared in November 2022 and January 2024. Last updated November 2024.