Schools close again due to bitter cold

No school in Albion, Holley, Kendall, Lyndonville and Medina

The five school districts in Orleans County are all closed today due to dangerously cold temperatures. It is sub-zero outside and the wind gives a wind chill of minus-25.

The districts however will offer the Regents exams, including transportation for high school students taking those tests.

“We have several students that have prepared for it,” Lyndonville Superintendent Jason Smith said about the Regents. “It’s a one-shot deal for them and we have students trying to get an advanced score.”

Albion has cancelled classes for grades kindergarten through 8. High schoolers were off this week anyway, except for Regents. The high school bus is delayed two hours. The morning exams start at 10 with the afternoon tests at noon.

Smith, the Lyndonville superintendent, kept school open on Monday with a two-hour delay. With today’s closing, Lyndonville has now used up four snow days. To accommodate for those days, a March 14 Superintendent’s Conference Day has been changed to an early release day.

The districts need to provide a minimum of 180 days instruction, according to state law. If districts use up all of their snow days, they may have to adjust the school calendar, including scheduled vacation days. Smith said that would be a last resort.

“We should still be OK, but we’re hanging on by a string,” he said.