Snow day, snow delay, how do schools decide?


FALLS VILLAGE - At this time of year, there is always some, well, discussion of how the school district decides if there will be a snow day or a snow delay. So far this school year, there have been two snow days (which means that the last day of school has been pushed from June 11 to June 13).

Region One schools Superintendent Patricia Chamberlain decides whether the school will close for the day, close early or start late. In Connecticut, schools have only two choices. They can call for a 90-minute delay or they can close school for the entire day. Chamberlain starts checking weather reports at around 3 a.m. She looks at television news reports and the Internet and she also begins to get reports from the region’s six town crews. Even if all the main roads are free of snow and ice and are safe for travel, school will be delayed or canceled if those steep slopes and any treacherous back roads can’t be cleared before buses have to navigate them. High school students in the region are picked up as early as 5:30 a.m.

The roads also have to be safe for the bus drivers. If they can’t make it to the depot in time to start their rounds, school will be delayed.

Chamberlain also makes phone contact with officials in neighboring school districts. Some students in the Region One towns attend the Oliver Wolcott Technical School in Torrington instead of Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village, for example, and they travel to that school on Region One buses that start their rounds at 5:30 a.m.

If it looks like all the town and state road crews can get the roads clear in time for buses to leave by 5:30 a.m., there will be a normal school day. If it looks like the roads can be clear within 90 minutes or less after the first buses have to leave, there will be a 90-minute delay. If the roads can’t be cleared in time for the buses to leave at 7 a.m., then there’s a snow day.

If school is going to close early, the decision is made by 11 a.m. and posted at the school’s Web site, region1schools.org.

 

— Cynthia Hochswender

 

Latest News

Father Joseph Kurnath

LAKEVILLE — Father Joseph G. M. Kurnath, retired priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford, passed away peacefully, at the age of 71, on Sunday, June 29, 2025.

Father Joe was born on May 21, 1954, in Waterbury, Connecticut. He attended kindergarten through high school in Bristol.

Keep ReadingShow less
Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

Keep ReadingShow less
Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

Keep ReadingShow less