Burgettstown Area School District

What a week it was!

• February 9: Act 80 Full Day- No School
• February 16: Snow Day Make Up

Burgettstown Families,

First, thank you for the role you have played in supporting your child’s learning this week. We recognize that delays, closures, and remote instruction can be disruptive to family routines, and that remote learning places additional responsibility on caregivers to ensure students log on and actively engage. We appreciate your flexibility and partnership as our faculty continued to deliver instruction under challenging conditions.

I would like to clarify how school delays, cancellations, Flexible Instruction Days, and remote learning days fit within Pennsylvania’s School Code.

Under Pennsylvania law, school districts must provide either 180 days of instruction or meet minimum instructional hour requirements—990 hours at the secondary level and 900 hours at the elementary level (24 P.S. §15-1501 and §15-1504). Traditionally, Burgettstown has met this requirement by scheduling and completing 180 in-person instructional days.

During the COVID-19 era, the School Code was amended to allow districts to apply for up to five Flexible Instruction Days (FIDs) annually. These days permit synchronous remote instruction to count as instructional days, provided PDE approval is obtained. Approval is granted in three-year increments, and Burgettstown is currently in its third year of approval. Accordingly, we entered the 2025–2026 school year with five approved Flexible Instruction Days available.

In summer 2024, the Pennsylvania General Assembly further amended the School Code to provide districts with additional flexibility in how instructional requirements may be met. Among these changes was the explicit allowance for remote instruction days, the number of which is determined locally by the school district, provided instructional hour requirements are satisfied. While Flexible Instruction Days and remote learning days may appear identical to families in practice, they are governed by different provisions of the School Code and must be tracked separately for compliance purposes.

These amendments also reaffirm the option for districts to rely on total instructional hours, rather than strictly on 180 days, to meet annual requirements. Burgettstown views this option as a last resort and continues to prioritize full, in-person instructional days whenever possible. This is why multiple snow days are built into our calendar each year. However, the instructional-hours provision is what allowed the District not to make up a late closure last school year, and it remains an important flexibility should extreme circumstances arise.

While Burgettstown currently holds approval for Flexible Instruction Days, the District may elect to utilize remote instruction days only after those days are exhausted—as occurred this week due to prolonged extreme cold and unsafe road conditions. From a student and family perspective, there will be no difference in how instruction is delivered; the distinction is purely regulatory.

Our first priority is always to have students in school for a regular, in-person instructional day. Any deviation—whether a two-hour delay, remote instruction, or a full closure—is made only after careful consideration of multiple factors, including road conditions across the four municipalities that comprise the District, air temperature and wind chill, the timing and duration of weather events, and overall safety.

This past week was highly unusual. The severity and persistence of the extreme cold led us to shift to Flexible Instruction rather than implement delays. We do not want this week to be viewed as establishing a new expectation that cold weather alone will result in remote instruction. Each weather event will continue to be evaluated individually and in real time.

Whenever possible, we strive to notify families of decisions the evening prior. However, this is not always feasible, and late-breaking conditions may require early-morning decisions. We appreciate your continued understanding and support as we navigate weather-related decisions with student safety as our guiding priority.

Thank you, as always, for your partnership.

Rescheduled Blood Drive- Open to our community!

Please note that the blood drive originally scheduled for January 20 has been rescheduled and will now take place on Tuesday, February 3, at Burgettstown Middle High School, from 9:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.

Donating blood is a simple way to make a meaningful impact.

Date: Tuesday, February 3
Time: 9:15 a.m. – 1:15 p.m.
Location: Burgettstown Middle High School
Appointments: vitalant.org
Blood Drive Code: UHS010010

We appreciate everyone’s flexibility and encourage community members to consider donating and helping save lives.

In last week’s update and a follow-up alert, we invited families to share photos of their “snow day fun,” and the response was terrific. We received more than 40 emails from families eager to share how our students spent their time during the winter weather.

Below is a snapshot of how some of our students enjoyed the snow day—and the days that followed—as we all weathered this memorable winter storm. From sledding and building igloos to studying with friends and playing in the snow with family pets, our students truly made the most of their time.

Winter storms of this magnitude are uncommon in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and for many of the students pictured, this may be a once-in-a-school-career experience. We hope everyone enjoyed the break, stayed safe, and is ready to return from remote learning next week.

This year, the Burgettstown Athletic Department is introducing digital ticketing for regular season football, volleyball, girls and boys basketball, and wrestling. Though all fans may still purchase a ticket "at the gate," but those who wish to avoid lines and pre-purchase an electronic ticket may do so by accessing the digital ticketing feature on the Hudl Fan page. Single game regular season tickets for both students and adults are available. Also, for those who know that will likely attend all games in a particular season, a season pass can be purchased. Please note: there is a processing fee, per ticket. This fee does not go to the school district, it is a vendor fee in support of the electronic ticketing feature. Scan the QR code or the button below to access the Hudl Fan page.

We remind students, employees, parents, guardians, and community members that smoking, the possession or use of alcohol or other drugs, and the possession of weapons on school grounds, including outdoor athletic areas, by any individual, is prohibited. These acts are subject to police action and must also be reported to the Department of Education.

Our school community has embraced the uniqueness of conducting commencement exercises at Star Lake for decades. The various management groups throughout the years have supported this by donating the use of the facility and we are most appreciative. While it is early in the school year, we want to make note that in order to hold graduation at Star Lake, flexibility in planning is necessary. Believe it or not, the planning for the next year begins shortly after the school year ends. We notify Star Lake management of our desired date and it is recorded as a preferred date. There are no guarantees, and in the past several years, we have not been able to finalize the date until some point in April. We know this causes a bit of anxiousness on the part of our seniors and their families, but if we want to continue this fine tradition, we must remain flexible. After last year's Commencement, we informed the management at Star Lake that our preferred date for this year's Commencement is June 5, 2026. While this is our preferred date, there is no guarantee that we will get it. As the months go by this year, the District will remain in contact with Star Lake management. When we know the confirmed date, we will communicate it to our students and families. Though graduation may be the last thing on anyone's mind this early in the school year, we wanted to communicate this information so there are no misunderstandings.

Student and employee safety is extremely important to us. We are constantly looking for ways to make our schools, school grounds, and property safe for all. Recently, we ordered signage that will be placed on all of our school busses, warning that unauthorized boarding will be subject to criminal prosecution. This is not something new, it is simply something we are creating a greater awareness of.

According to the Pennsylvania Crimes Code:

§ 5517. Unauthorized school bus entry. (a) Offense defined.--A person who enters a school bus without prior authorization of the driver or a school official with intent to commit a crime or disrupt or interfere with the driver or a person who enters a school bus without prior authorization of the driver or a school official who refuses to disembark after being ordered to do so by the driver commits a misdemeanor of the third degree. (b) Notice.--A school district may place a notice at the entrance of the school bus that warns against unauthorized entry.

Our school district prides itself on providing the best possible learning environment for our students, and school buildings and other facilities that can be a source of pride for the community. We are constantly monitoring the conditions of our schools, athletic complexes and other district-owned property but sometimes we miss things. You can help us by completing this form when you notice something that you think needs our attention. It can be something as basic as noticing that there is a light out in our parking areas, or that the trash receptacles at the baseball field need emptied. Just like you have for your home, we have a running list of items that need our attention. These items get prioritized and acted upon. We may already know about the issue you raise, but if we don't, we can't prioritize it until we do. We are all in this together and your input is greatly appreciated. Please click her to access this form: HERE

We know our families and our communities enjoy seeing the various photographs and related information about our students and their activities through the various social media platforms and other methods of communication from our school district. If a parent or guardian objects to the use of their child's image and related information, they must notify the school district. Please see the following document for more details.