CAS Families,
I hope this message finds you well, despite learning earlier today that CAS will be closed tomorrow, Monday, May 22. I am writing to provide you with more information and to alert you that the school day that was planned for CAS tomorrow, May 22, will be rescheduled for Wednesday, May 31.
I would like to begin by thanking the Madison Fire Department for their support over the weekend as we worked to resolve a malfunction in the CAS fire alarm panel. We are not yet sure what caused the malfunction, but it became clear today that the system will require the replacement of hardware that is essential to the alarm's operating system. We are hopeful that this hardware can be acquired by our vendor and installed tomorrow, enabling us to resume normal operations on Tuesday.
Parents should know that before we decided to cancel school, we explored all other possible options including virtual learning days, site relocation, and "fire watch" operations. None of these solutions proved viable for tomorrow.
As you may know, all schools must convene for 180 days of instruction in a calendar year, per the NJDOE. To meet this requirement, CAS must add another school day. Wednesday, May 31, 2023, was originally scheduled as a day of school for students but was recently given back to offset our unused snow days. Please know the school will take into consideration that your child may be absent due to commitments you may have made on May 31. Principal Liss will contact you shortly to explain the procedures that CAS is putting in place for that day.
Finally, parents should also be aware that if this repair cannot be completed in time to hold school on Tuesday or Wednesday, CAS will need to push back their last day of school to June 15 or June 16. Accordingly, parents may want to proactively explore childcare options for May 23 and May 24, and refrain from making family plans for June 15 and June 16 until this matter is resolved.
Thank you for your patience. We understand that schedule changes are very difficult for working families and we are making every effort to resolve this issue as soon as possible. Please monitor your email for further updates tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Mark Schwarz