Snow Day in Webster Started With Video from Su­per­in­tendent That Went Viral

WEBSTER, N.Y. -- Webster Central School District Superintendent Carmen Gumina is garnering a lot of attention after using his creativity to tell students Monday that school was closed for the day.

Gumina was named the interim superintendent in August. Just two weeks ago, he was named the permanent superintendent, and as his first time calling a school closure for the district, Gumina knew he had to make it one to remember.

“I was just trying to come up with something funny for the kids and the parents,” Gumina said.

In a YouTube video shared on the district’s website, Twitter and Facebook account, Gumina blended his love for running outdoors with a bit of humor.  He tells students the chances of school getting canceled due to snow was just as likely as the Buffalo Bills winning the Super Bowl or him getting attacked by a bobcat.

The video then shows a bobcat stalking him through the snow and ultimately the camera falling to the ground.

Gumina ends the video with a sign that says “Snow Day! School is closed!” and “Go Bills!”

“I don’t know if I would say I was confident it was funny,” Gumina said. “My daughters would tell you that I always think that I’m funny and many times I’m not, but it was just one of those, a harmless video. We knew we weren’t going to offend anybody.”

For the generation of kids he was targeting, it was the perfect way to share the news.

“Usually they put it on a school website or something and we don’t go on that, our parents do,” Willink Middle School student Rory McCave said. “So if you put it on YouTube, we use YouTube and stuff and we’d see it.”

Gumina’s humor in the video also went a long way with the students.

"He fell on the snow and he was like ‘help me’ I think,” Willink Middle School student Cullen Hennessy said. “It was pretty cool.”

As much fun as he had making video though, next time he said he’ll keep it simpler by making a phone call instead.

“It really has gone far and above and beyond what anyone of us sort of expected,” Gumina said. “I think my days of attempting to get tackled by other cats is basically done.”