fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Manage HV1 Account
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

Snow way! District’s days off gone with the drifts

by Crispin Kott
April 18, 2016
in News
0
Julia, Anastasia and Kevin enjoying the snow over the weekend at lower Hasbrouck Park. (Photo: Phyllis McCabe)
Julia, Anastasia and Kevin enjoying the snow over the weekend at lower Hasbrouck Park. (Photo: Phyllis McCabe)

(Editor’s note: The KCSD cancelling school on Friday, Jan. 10, means that a day will have to be taken from Memorial Day break.)

Winter is only officially a few weeks old, but thanks to an eventful run of weather, the Kingston City School District has already used up its entire allotment of snow days for the 2013-14 school year.

Heading into the holiday recess in late December, the district still had two of its six snow days remaining, but those were eaten up by a storm which arrived last Thursday and stuck around through early on Friday. Kids who celebrated the extension of the long winter break may find themselves wishing it hadn’t turned out that way later in the year, because every snow day from here on out results in an already-scheduled day off turning into another day in the classroom.

Calling a snow day is a decision based on a complex series of criteria — it’s not as simple as looking out the window in the morning and seeing flakes falling from the sky. Of course, the time-honored visual option used by optimistic children doesn’t necessarily hurt, either.

“We have a meteorologist we call, and a service which provides us with a forecast,” said Superintendent Paul Padalino. “I don’t like to close on a forecast; I like to see some flakes at least.”

The school district’s forecasts come from the FleetWeather Group, a Hopewell Junction-based company which has been in business for over 43 years. On Dec. 10 of last year, the day the district held its successful bond referendum vote for a Kingston High School renovation plan, Padalino said the forecast showed a 90 percent likelihood that a winter storm would hit the area just as students were boarding their buses in the morning. The decision was made to use a snow day, but the storm never came. Padalino, who has the final say on snow days, as well as one- and two-hour delays, said it was a regrettable choice, but one he felt he had to make.

“I’m responsible for the safety of 7,000 students who are getting on school buses every day,” Padalino said. “People think I make a lot of decisions and have a lot of power, but really, the only decision I make on my own is snow days. I get a lot of help and input from a lot of people, but it’s the only thing I don’t have to call the [school] board and get a vote on.”

While Padalino makes the final decision on snow days, he relies heavily on Transportation Director Judy Falcon for information. Falcon, who is in her 13th year with the district, has been in the transportation industry since 1980, and perhaps understands the rhythms of the sprawling school district better than anyone. Falcon is in constant contact with various district employees who live in and drive from some of the area’s notoriously troublesome neighborhoods. Falcon also hits the streets to see for herself.

“I begin about 3:45 a.m., but we actually start some conversations the night before, especially with those big storms we had coming in recently,” Falcon said. “I drive between 4 and 5 a.m., and then I give Dr. Padalino a call.”

Falcon’s standard reconnaissance route takes her down Creek Locks Road, through Main Street in Bloomington, to hilly Dewitt Mills Road, and over to Linderman Avenue.

“She goes out and does her routes, she talks to the highway people in all the towns and the city and gets an idea of when they’re getting out, how long it’ll be before their roads are cleared,” Padalino said. “That’s an important part of how we make our decision about delaying, closing or opening on time.”

The Kingston City School District covers a lot of territory, with topographic variances that might not be apparent to everyone.

Page 1 of 2
12Next
Tags: Kingston City School DistrictPaul Padalinotown of ulster
Thank you for reading Hudson Valley One. We rely on your support to continue providing local, substantive news. Please check out our subscription options to keep local journalism alive in the Hudson Valley.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher
Previous Post

Jazz heavyweight Brad Mehldau at the Falcon this Saturday

Next Post

Folked-up attitude: Inside Llewyn Davis

Crispin Kott

Crispin Kott was born in Chicago, raised in New York and has called everywhere from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Atlanta home. A music historian and failed drummer, he’s written for numerous print and online publications and has shared with his son Ian and daughter Marguerite a love of reading, writing and record collecting.

 Crispin Kott is the co-author of the Rock and Roll Explorer Guide to New York City (Globe Pequot Press, June 2018), the Little Book of Rock and Roll Wisdom (Lyons Press, October 2018), and the Rock and Roll Explorer Guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area (Globe Pequot Press, May 2021).

Related Posts

Just a couple more interviews for Police Commission
Politics & Government

Just a couple more interviews for Police Commission

May 14, 2022
New Paltz edges closer to welcoming members of the public back to gathering in the new justice center
Politics & Government

See you at the Justice Center

May 14, 2022
Bubbe’s Deli opens in Gardiner’s former Mountain Harbor
Business

Bubbe’s Deli opens in Gardiner’s former Mountain Harbor

May 13, 2022
Saugerties police will get crisis intervention training
Crime

Saugertes man faces multiple charges after domestic disturbance

May 12, 2022
Saugerties Town Justice Dan Lamb passes at 65
General News

Courtroom renamed in honor of Judge Lamb

May 12, 2022
Saugerties’ Kiwanis Ice Arena sets records in attendance, revenue
General News

Kiwanis Ice Arena fees are increasing

May 12, 2022
Next Post

Folked-up attitude: Inside Llewyn Davis

Trending News

  • Bubbe’s Deli opens in Gardiner’s former Mountain Harbor 1.3k views
  • Woodstock Library bond passes 1k views
  • Saugertes man faces multiple charges after domestic disturbance 890 views
  • The moon is down in Central Hudson 569 views
  • Woodstock club can open its beer garden, but without musical amplification 404 views







Latest HV1 Podcast

Weather

Kingston
◉
63°
Partly Cloudy
5:34am8:10pm EDT
Feels like: 63°F
Wind: 1mph N
Humidity: 100%
Pressure: 29.78"Hg
UV index: 0
TueWedThu
70/46°F
72/48°F
72/54°F
Weather forecast Kingston, New York ▸

Ulster County COVID-19 Active Cases

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Manage HV1 Account

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Login

© 2022 Ulster Publishing