York County School Division :: Breaking News

School Calendar Make-Up Day

Tue, 9 Mar 2010 11:45:00 EST

At this time, the York County School Division does not plan to schedule a make-up day for the school day missed on March 3 due to inclement weather. If division schools do not miss another school day this school year, we will meet state requirements regarding instructional hours.

President Obama Speech Information

Tue, 8 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST

President Obama gave an address on Tuesday at noon. This address or excerpts of this address may be shown to students by schools and teachers in the York County School Division as early as Thursday, Sept. 10. To view the advance text of the speech or the speech itself, go to www.whitehouse.gov.

Parents who do not wish for their child to participate in viewing the broadcast and/or participating in any accompanying activities, should inform their child's school as soon as possible. This will allow for alternate arrangements to be made.

Last week, schools were informed that they would receive guidance on this topic following the presidential address. We have notified schools and teachers of their ability to use this resource. They were requested to make reasonable accommodations for students whose parents may object to the viewing of the broadcast and/or participating in any related activities.

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact your child's school.

YCSD guidance to schools about President Obama's Sept. 8 message to students

Fri, 4 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST

On Sept. 2, the division's chief academic officer sent an e-mail to YCSD principals that included the following text:

Some of you may have received an e-mail from Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, outlining details for a live web address by President Obama scheduled for Sept. 8. We have contacted Secretary Duncan’s office, and we were told that the speech is approximately 20 minutes in length. Secretary Duncan’s office was not able to provide the written text of the message.

We recognize that this live broadcast is on the first day of school, and that the broadcast time does not work well with opening-day activities. The web-cast will be archived (www.whitehouse.gov/video) so that students may view the President's message along with their families at home if they choose to do so.

Following standard procedures for resources utilized in the classroom, and after the message has been broadcast, additional guidance will be provided to schools.

Swine Flu Information - Update

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:30:00 EST

Update, April 30, 2009: Responding to a high public interest in swine flu, the state’s health department will open a call center today for Virginians to telephone with questions about the new virus. The number – 1-877-ASK-VDH3 – will be staffed from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. April 30 & May 1. Some questions will be answered immediately by health department staff, and others will be recorded to be answered in return calls.

Swine Flu Information

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:30:00 EST

Health officials are concerned about a flu virus of swine origin that has spread in countries around the world.

The York County School Division has a detailed flu pandemic plan in place that was reviewed and revised earlier this school year. Division staff members are in close contact with the Virginia Department of Education, which is receiving regular updates from the Virginia Department of Health, and will follow their guidance about any actions that should be taken by the school division.

Currently, we are being advised that the best prevention measure is hand-washing, and we will continue to emphasize this in our schools. Hand-washing is a big part of our year-round efforts to prevent the spread of illnesses in our schools.

There are many web sites where you can find regularly updated information about the flu and several links are provided below. We will post additional information on this web site as needed.

Resources:

Centers for Disease Control: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/
Virginia Department of Health (for Virginia-specific information): http://www.vdh.state.va.us/
U.S. Government Pandemic Flu Website: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/
World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/en/