OXFORD — The superintendent of Oxford Public Schools sent the following letter to parents on Aug. 21:
Dear Staff, Parents, and Guardians,
I want to express my deep empathy for what our community has experienced over the past four days. I know how difficult this time has been, and I am aware that the weeks ahead may be very challenging for many of us. Please know that you are in my thoughts about your strength and resilience during this time. As we navigate these challenging moments together, I want to assure you that we are doing everything we can to support one another as a community.
As both your Superintendent and a resident of Oxford, I care deeply about this community and every one of you. Thank you for the support you’ve shown each other and our staff as we prepare for the upcoming school year. I also want to thank our teachers for their dedication in preparing their classrooms. I recognize that many of our teachers would have been setting up their rooms over the past few days, but this has not been possible due to school closures and road conditions. I am confident, however, that their hard work will lead to a successful school opening when the time comes.
Our top priority is safety. I just left a town emergency management meeting where we discussed the current conditions of our roads and the safety and accessibility concerns that must be addressed before we can safely open our schools. Unfortunately, as of today, the streets in our town are not safe for buses. Roads are shut down, others have visual damage on the sides of the road, and others are compromised without any visual cues. The bus company does not have clearance to drive on the streets, and the town still needs to complete a safety evaluation to determine which roads are drivable. This assessment is underway, and we will meet with town officials on Wednesday, August 28, to identify which roads are safe to use.
Following this assessment, the bus company will need time to develop new routes. To prioritize the safety of our students, we have made the difficult decision to delay the start of school from August 28. I understand that this is an inconvenience for many families, but the safety of our students must come first. The decision to push back the start of school was made in collaboration with the First Selectman and our Police Department. Our best-case scenario is that school will start sometime during the week of September 3, but we will need to reassess next week to determine the exact date. For those of you asking if we can start school virtually or hybrid, doing so presents logistic, legal, and contractual challenges, not to mention what is best for our students. We want our students in school but must do so safely.
Please note that any days missed at the start of the school year must be added to our June calendar, as we handle snow days. We appreciate your understanding as we make these necessary adjustments.
Thank you again for your understanding and patience during this time. I will follow up with a second message to our staff regarding the implications for their schedules for next week.
Sincerely,
Dr. Robert Miller
Superintendent of Schools
