Scarsdale 10583

We asked Scarsdale School Board President Liz Guggenheimer for an update on the reopening of the Scarsdale Schools and here is what she shared on November 1, 2012: I hope you, your family and the entire school community are managing safely and well under the circumstances. Below is my most current information. (I too, like many staff and families, am without phones, email, internet, but I am temporarily at an internet site and well)

- As of last night only Heathcote and Scarsdale High School had power. As far as I know, none of the schools have Internet connection or phones.

- The Village has been doing a great job clearing streets, and the School Administration and Village officials are in contact and coordinating. Clearing the streets and ensuring public safety are an important priority.

- We can consider openings (full, partial) once the streets are clear and power and phones are restored in the schools.

Here is the text of the October 31st email from the School District to school families:

This is Linda Purvis, Assistant Superintendent for the Scarsdale Public Schools. Five of the District's seven schools have no electrical power and we have been told that the earliest power could be restored would be Friday afternoon. Many roads are still blocked off and communication systems are down.

Accordingly, based on the information we currently have, Dr. McGill has decided that it would be prudent to close schools for the remainder of the week (Thursday and Friday.) We will re-open on Monday. You will be notified if there are changes to this schedule.

Thank you for your patience. Please stay safe.

And here is the last message from SHS Principal Kenneth Bonamo:

I hope you and your families made it through the storm safely. I wanted to share with you two quick bulletins.

First, end-of-marking-period testing (the tests that were supposed to begin today) will be postponed until at least 3 days after our return to school. A specific testing schedule will be shared by the end of our first day back. Second, the house meeting has been rescheduled to Thursday, November 8.

Again, I hope this message finds you safe and sound, and I wish us all a speedy return to normalcy.

Comments (8)

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written by Bill Silverman, November 04, 2012

"The Village has doing a great job ... and the school administration and village officials are in contact" Are you kidding?? It's now 5:45 on Sunday and we still don't know whether there is school tomorrow.

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written by Mike, November 04, 2012

Typical of the school district (the superintendant) to always make decisions at the last minute.
Dont they realize families must plan for child care, etc. WHATS GOING ON!
Also I see this article has not been updated since Thursday. Hey School district, a little info please.

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written by Frustrated Resident, November 04, 2012

It is now Sunday and still no word on the schools. I imagine some residents are staying out of town, and need to know whether to return or make other arrangements if schools are open. Postponing the decision until the last minute is nonsensical. If there is doubt, school should be cancelled (especially given that Tuesday is Election Day) and the two schools with power should be open to children and families to use for shelter and heat.

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written by Disgruntled. , November 02, 2012

Quite honestly it's a shambles. I know they face a difficult uphill struggle to get things fixed, but with schools out on Tuesday Nov 6th, is there a point in going back at all on Monday? Why don't they just say Wednesday? If you've seen the devastation around the middle school do they seriously think it will be cleared by then? Furthermore, with no internet, phones or anything else, how is the school supposed to function?

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written by Captain Latin America, November 02, 2012

Power is not coming back online with any degree of alacrity whatsoever. I'm not finding fault, just observing.

Prediction: with schools closed on Election Day anyway, kids won't be back in class until Wednesday. You heard it right here first, folks.

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written by Disappointed Resident, November 02, 2012

This headline is misleading -- it is based on aged informaiton. Just because Linda Purvis said on Wednesday that schools will reopen on Monday does not make it so. Remember, on Wednesday, we all thought ConEd would restore power far earlier than November 9.

If there is no power to the Schools (something not in the Board of Education's control), how can schools open?

This article makes it sound like the district has determined today, Friday November 2, that there will be school on Monday, November 5. It has not done that. It made a hopeful statement on October 31. Let's see if it plays out, particularly as the power estimates have changed.

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written by Lori Parks, November 02, 2012

And without electricity, phones, Internet and cell phones that don't function in our homes, how are we to know when schools will reopen?

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written by Sharon, November 02, 2012

What about Tuesday nov 6th.
It's the election day. Will the schools be open?

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