Western Local School District

There will be a Lady Indian Softball Parent/player meeting tomorrow evening after practice at 5:30 in the middle school gym.

Western Local Board of Education meeting 2/18 @ 6pm.

All biddy basketball kids (boys & girls) will be recognized tonight at the high school game, between the JV and varsity games. They will get in free and they need to wear their t-shirt. Please arrive by 6:30. Championship game tomorrow 10:00 in the JH gym Lakers vs Warriors. FINAL summer baseball and softball sign up tomorrow from 9-11:00 in the JH bubble.

I didn't do a very good job of explaining our situation on the phone last night. I was making the call from a ballgame and trying to get it out quickly in order to make it better for parents and kids. Please let me clarify our situation Our primary reason for cancelling is because of the combination of school staff, bus driver, and student illnesses. This is the worst that combination has been. The elementary absences are actually down a little but the high school absences were up yesterday, as were the number of high school students leaving due to illness. If it weren't for the number of bus drivers out sick we would not have cancelled. We were definitely on the borderline but that was the deciding factor. I have bus drivers that would drive on their deathbeds if I asked them to but it's not fair to them or the kids to have them driving when they're sick. There are 7 high school staff members who are sick in addition to the 5 bus drivers. I also want to clarify the CTC open house situation. The open house is at the CTC. It has nothing to do with us. I was letting our kids and parents know that the CTC still wants our kids to come to the open house tonight. They didn't want our kids to think they couldn't come because we're closed. The open house is for any student interested in going to the CTC next year. I'm sorry I didn't clearly explain. I knew the sophomores would understand what I was meaning. I didn't think about people thinking we were having an open house here. I apologize for the confusion. I also understand there will always be different opinions about continuing athletic activities when school is closed. Of the 65 students out yesterday at the high school, none were high school basketball players or cheerleaders. If you would like to call me and chew on me about the decision to continue athletic events when we're closed please feel free to do so. My number is 740 493 3113. Believe me, I see both sides. I will do my best to explain all sides of the situation. If you want an answer then a personal call or message is the only way to do that. I do want to reiterate that this closure is as much about busing and sick staff members as the total number of students sick. We are hoping that this long weekend combined with some colder weather will help.

WHS Art Club Fundraiser!! This FRIDAY!! February 14 at the Western High School Boy’s Basketball Game!! Come “bail” out your favorite staff member, or pay money to keep them in! Prisoners will be taken into “custody” by our Art Police during the reserve halftime! 100% of the proceeds go directly to our students’ NYC trips! Thank you for supporting our students and the Arts in our schools!!

Youth League announcements 1. Boys biddy basketball games are still on for this evening to be held in the JH gym 6:00 Lakers vs Nets 7:00 Cavs vs Warriors 2. Summer baseball and softball sign ups this evening from 6-8:00 in the Jr high bubble. 3. Biddy Basketball pictures are in and can be picked up this evening from 6-8:00 in the Jr high bubble. Those not picked up will be sent home with students on Tuesday.

Unfortunately we are going to have to cancel Thursday and Friday due to illness. Today was the worst day of the year so far at the high school. Had over 110 kids out with lots leaving sick. Hopefully these two days plus the three day weekend will get everything cleared out. The CTC open house is still on for our students for tomorrow night.

If any area schools cancel tomorrow, the spelling bee will be rescheduled for the 18th of this month.

High School Schedule this week

We are having school tomorrow!!! Hoping the flu has left Latham!! If your student exhibits any signs of the flu please keep them home. Hoping to get back on track tomorrow. Please send us your flu-free children! There are lots of illnesses going around. Better to be safe.

Girls biddy basketball is cancelled for today due to back road conditions. It will be moved to next Saturday, Feb 15th.

Since our original date for homecoming was canceled (visiting school canceling due to illness) our homecoming queen and her court will be announced at the February 12th game against Green.

Basketball schedule changes: The rescheduled high school boys game against Green that was to be played tonight has been rescheduled once again (due to Green’s students still dealing with flu)- will now be played Feb 12th. New Boston also had to cancel the jr high game for today due to too many out sick.

High School Schedule

Homecoming update: The homecoming ceremony will start at 7pm this Saturday, February 1st. The ceremony will be held in the high school gym. The homecoming dance will follow the homecoming ceremony and will be held in the high school cafeteria as already planned. The homecoming ceremony will also take place again on Tuesday, February 4th at the rescheduled Green game.

I apologize for messing this up. I should have gotten it right the first time but I wasn’t really prepared to do this tonight. We will have the homecoming ceremony and dance on Saturday night. There will not be a game. We will get details out to the kids first thing tomorrow morning about how it will all work and whether or not they want to redo the ceremony at our last home game. Either way we will be having our homecoming ceremony and dance on Saturday night. It’s impossible to make everyone happy in this situation so I am choosing to think about the kids who have spent lots of time and money preparing for Saturday night. We did this one other time and it worked out fine.

There’s a possibility that we could have a dance on Saturday night and do the whole thing then. We will talk about it in the morning and let students know as soon as possible. We will meet with all the kids in the homecoming first thing in the morning and make a decision and let everyone know.

I should know better than to make an announcement from home without looking at the schedule. We are away next Friday night. We will reschedule the homecoming game and dance for the night we play East. We will confirm everything in the morning and let the students know. Sorry for the inconvenience. We tried our best to work it out but were unable to.

We just received a message from the athletic director at Green high school. Due to a flu outbreak and school being canceled they have canceled our game for tomorrow night. Their district policy doesn’t allow them to travel if they don’t have school. I wanted to get the message out as soon as possible so kids would know tonight that the homecoming game and dance have been postponed. The plan is to have both next Friday night. We will confirm that tomorrow morning and give students the details.

Tomorrow is Mathlete vs. Athlete for Homecoming week!