The one silver lining, perhaps, of the move to distance learning this fall was the idea that schools might be “snow day-proof.” After all, with all students learning from home anyway — what impact could icy roads have on their studies?
But 2020 finds a way. Due to internet and power outages resulting from the devastating wildfires the previous night, the first day of school was canceled for Canby School District.
There were no classes in either the Connected At-Home (hybrid) learning model or the online academy for Tuesday, Sept. 8.
According to the district, initial information was that the fiber-optic cables responsible for delivering internet to Canby’s school facilities had been damaged in the overnight fires — which might further cause further delays to the start of the school year.
This was apparently confirmed in an update later that afternoon by Canby High School Principal Greg Dinse.
“Well, today didn’t turn out as we expected!” he said in the email to students and families. “We understand that a fire in Oregon City damaged a fiber optics cable that supports the school district’s internet and telephone service. Also, power and the internet is still intermittent throughout our community.”
Dinse said the high school plans to have its first day of school Wednesday, Sept. 9, and that the textbook and technology checkout have been rescheduled for 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, as well as 9 a.m. to noon Monday, Sept. 14.
“I know many students are anxious to start school and are concerned about connecting with their classes,” he wrote. “We expect there to be some problems and students should not worry about ‘perfect attendance.’ It’s going to take some time to work out all the bugs and get everything working smoothly. Please be patient.”
Athletics practices are also scheduled to begin next week, weather permitting. Informational videos are available in English here and Spanish here.
Classes were also reportedly canceled for the same reasons in Oregon City, Molalla and Colton — where wildland fires raged for hours, causing widespread damage and prompting evacuations in some areas.
