THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234 _______________________________________________________________________________________
	James A. Kadamus, Deputy Commissioner Office for Elementary, Middle, Secondary and Continuing Education Room 875 EBA Albany, New York  12234 Phone:  (518) 474-5915 Fax:  (518-486-2233

As you know, most schools in Hudson Valley, the metropolitan NYC area, including Long Island, as well as some other areas across the state, are closed today.  There are six State examinations scheduled for today:

§ Regents Examination in Physical Setting / Chemistry

§ Regents Examination in Physical Setting / Physics

§ Regents Examination in Global History and Geography

§ Regents Examination in U.S. History and Government

§ RCT in Writing

§ RCT in Reading

In anticipation of the storm, I sent a message to all BOCES District Superintendents (DSs) and representatives of the Big 5 cities yesterday, restating the rules to be followed in the case of inclement weather, and providing a form on which to submit data on the impact of the storm on schools and students. You can assist in this process by being prepared to provide the DS in your region with the following information:

Which school(s) closed, and on what date(s);§

Which examinations were not administered due to weather;

§ How many students were scheduled to take each examination that was not  administered due to weather; and

§ In what grade were those students.

We are requesting that the data be submitted by February 4. This will give us the information we need to evaluate the situation and make informed decisions as needed.  Any decisions will be shared with all BOCES District Superintendents, school superintendents and representatives of nonpublic and charter schools.  They will also be posted to the web at https://www.p12.nysed.gov/.

Please note, the specific Regents examinations given today will not be rescheduled.  That means the examination forms that were distributed for use today cannot be administered at a later date or time because they have already been made public.

In addition, we have previously sent you information about the effect of weather on exam administration. On January 22 a notice was posted to the P-12 website and subsequently sent to all of you via our statewide email broadcast summarizing the rules to follow in the case of inclement weather during the January examination period.  That notice can be found at https://www.p12.nysed.gov/deputy/_assessment/inclementweather.htm.

We also created a website on which we have posted all scoring clarifications and important notices that have arisen during this examination period.  News about this site was shared with administrators and teachers across the state beginning two weeks ago. The information can be accessed from the P-12 website at https://www.p12.nysed.gov/.

If you have any questions, you may send them to emscassessinfo@mail.nysed.gov.