Dear North Colonie families,
We know the news of the Boght Hills fire this morning was startling, but please be assured that we are working diligently to restore the building so that we can welcome our students back.
The alarm was triggered at 6:40. There were no students including CYC children or counselors in the building. Thankfully, no one was injured. Multiple Town of Colonie volunteer fire departments arrived on the scene and quickly extinguished the fire. While there was smoke that permeated throughout the building, direct extensive damage was confined to the cafetorium area. There is no direct fire or water damage in the learning spaces. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.
We are pleased to report that power has now been restored to Boght Hills. In addition, the district has been in communication with the fire restoration company who is on site and has already started the process of cleaning, smoke removal, and getting the building ready for occupancy.
We know you have questions as to what will happen when school starts back up after break on Monday, April 12. We have come up with three possible solutions.
- Our preferred option would be to reopen on Monday, April 12 for in-person instruction in the areas of BH not directly impacted by the fire.
- If more days are needed to restore the building, our second option would be to temporarily move to remote learning for up to a week.
- We are also currently exploring spaces in other schools throughout the district for BH students to continue in-person learning. If it comes to this option, we assure you it will be a temporary situation.
By the middle of next week, we expect to know which of the above scenarios is most likely. We will provide you with another update by the end of the day on Wednesday, April 7.
We are cognizant of the fact that this is an overwhelming time and yet another change in a student’s schedule could be hard to handle. If your child is struggling and needs assistance over the break, please reach out to Principal Puccioni at marcuspuccioni@ncolonie.org. He will arrange for a counselor to contact you and set up a time to talk with your child.
We recorded this video message to help answer your questions. Thank you again for your continued support. We are grateful for our partnership with the Town of Colonie and with our Boght Hills families.
Sincerely,
Superintendent D. Joseph Corr
Deputy Superintendent Kathleen Skeals
Boght Hills Principal Marcus Puccioni