KINDERHOOK–Jason D. Thomson, superintendent of the Ichabod Crane Central School District, announced Saturday, March 14 that his district, along with the other 22 districts in the Questar III BOCES, will “collectively cancel all classes beginning on Tuesday, March 17, 2020 and extending through Friday, March 27, 2020.”
All the other public school districts in Columbia County—Chatham, Germantown, Hudson, New Lebanon and Taconic Hills—are also part of the Questar III BOCES.
In the press release issued shortly after 7 p.m., Mr. Thomson said that the schools will be open Monday, March 16.
As of Saturday evening, Superintendent Thomson said, there were no confirmed cases of COVID-19 (coronavirus) in Columbia County. But he said the superintendents of the BOCES region had met earlier that that day with representatives from the health departments of Columbia, Rensselaer and Greene counties “for several hours to develop regional plans in response to this rapidly developing global pandemic. I have also been in close coordination with the district administrative team and Board of Education leadership to keep them apprised of these discussions.”
Schools in the Ichabod Crane District will be sending home academic materials at the end of the day, Monday, March 16 “for all grade levels in an effort to keep our students engaged and to prevent regression of essential skills and content while classes are canceled,” Mr. Thomson said in the release, adding, “We will work with available resources, including our Google classroom platform, to provide online/distance learning to grade levels where appropriate.”
Additionally the district will be setting up three distribution centers in the district “where families who qualify for free and reduced lunch during the 2019-2020 school year can pick up a free bagged breakfast and lunch for children under the age of 18.”
More detailed information will be released Monday, March 16. This information will be sent home in backpacks with our students and also made available on the district website. https://www.ichabodcrane.org/
