Dear York Catholic District School Board Families,
Timely communication is a necessary part of our relationship with you. The York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB) always strives to keep our parents/guardians informed with the information you need.
This morning, that did not happen. I want to provide you with details as to why this happened.
Early this morning, a decision was made to cancel buses. An email was sent at 5:47 a.m. through our third-party email service to inform you of this decision.
As heavy snow continued to fall, and in consultation with our neighbouring school boards, a decision was made to close schools to keep our students and staff safe.
At 6:12 a.m., an email from the YCDSB was sent to all of you informing you of this decision. Unfortunately, our third-party email service was overwhelmed by high traffic and an hour later, only 20 per cent of families had received the message.
We were in contact with the email service provider throughout these technical difficulties.
We were able to share the school closure information on social media, school websites and with the news media. A phone message was also sent to families in the hopes of getting this information to you. However, we understand that many of you rely on email for information. The YCDSB will inform our email service provider that today’s technical difficulties were unacceptable and must be addressed.
I know that this situation caused confusion and stress for many families, and for that, I am very sorry. We will do everything we can to ensure it does not happen again.
Yours in Catholic Education,
Jennifer Sarna
Interim Director of Education, Foundation Chair and Secretary of the Board