Dear Families,
Recently I’ve received questions relating to whether or not St. Francis is required to close school whenever Mon County Schools are cancelled. To be direct, we are not bound by anything that Mon County Schools do. That includes everything from their start date, their end date, their early dismissals, their holiday breaks, or any other function(s) they have. Our disparity in schedules this year has especially proven that, given the Diocesan mandates which made syncing our school calendar with Mon County’s calendar nearly impossible.
However, when it comes to school closings and delays, St. Francis has historically abided by whatever the Mon County decision has been…..100%. This winter has unarguably been harsh. Because of that, a natural consequence has been a greater amount of cancellations. Last year, in my first year as Principal, we had a fairly average amount of school days cancelled (three or four if my memory is correct?). To go back even further to the year before I arrived, there were zero cancellations and the school year actually ended before Memorial Day. Therefore, there have been no real concerns or deep conversations about this issue. But now, since the snow days have now accumulated to ten, there are understandable murmurs about whether or not our school should be independent pertaining to Mon County weather cancellations.
My response, with respect, is that I am not prepared to change an unwritten policy that St. Francis has consistently followed for decades. While we do not have a high percentage of our student population that rely on Mon County bus services, we do have many in number that do. Besides that, and some would consider to a fault, I will always place safety of our students, faculty, staff, and parents above all else. If there were just one accident with someone in our St. Francis community on a day that we decided to have school, against what Mon County does, then that would be detrimental from my standpoint. The decision ultimately resides with me and I am much more comfortable relying on the Department of Motor Vehicle’s (DMV) assessment of road conditions and trusting the judgement of Dr. Devano as Superintendent of Mon County Schools to make the decision for the county, even if a closing or 2 hour delay is specifically related to the sub-zero temps. Trinity Christian School, as a relative comparison, consistently abides by the Mon County School closings as well.
Please know that any thoughts, feelings, agreements, or disagreements you have on my position with this are truly respected. We will continue to evaluate and monitor these situations. But we are not deterring from Mon County at this point in time. Unless we receive some sort of forgiveness for snow days from the Diocese, we are committed to making up our cancellations and complete our 180 day instruction calendar. Our faculty, as recently as this morning, met at length on this issue and we are collaborating to provide up-to-date assignments and communication to honor our academic integrity on days when school is closed.
As always, I thank you for your time and understanding. Although this email could have been much lengthier due to other factors in this decision, I at least wanted to provide some general clarity on our position at St. Francis pertaining to school closings and delays. I look forward, as much as you do, to getting our loved ones back into a learning environment. Hopefully that will be tomorrow. Peace and blessings to you and your loved ones.
Sincerely,
Arthur Moore
Principal
St. Francis Central Catholic