Why can’t some schools open?
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Anonymous
| My SIL in Boston asked me this when I told her our schools are closed again tomorrow. I explained there’s 200+ schools that need to be cleared, and she wanted to know why the ones that are cleared of snow can’t open. I didn’t have a response other than that’s just the way it works here since things are run at the county level and not the city/town level like it is in New England. She thinks this is ridiculous. |
Anonymous
| Because the teachers union would throw a fit if 80% of us got to stay home while 20% were forced to go in. Call us selfish but we have a union for a reason |
Anonymous
You said it. There: run at city/town level |
Anonymous
It's not like smaller school districts usually open some of their schools and not others either. It's the same idea here. |
Anonymous
Yup. I agree, this is about teachers' union having a fit. |
Anonymous
Currently, only 20% of staff could make it to my school. Not even teachers, staff PERIOD. People are stuck in the neighborhoods. Including ones that are in other counties. |
Anonymous
|
I kind of thought that MCPS was going to do something different based on how they closed those Damascus area schools a couple of weeks ago.
But if they did something like that it would throw a lot of things out of sync and cause issues. Where a good number of students wouldn't have the same instructional days and as another poster mentioned there are probably pay and union issues too. So what's going to happen in the summer? Some schools have the year extended and others don't? What if some students transferred between a school that had extended closure these days with a school that didn't or vice versa? Their instructional days wouldn't match the rest of the students at the school. Our local schools had their lots cleared since Tuesday, as well as most of our neighborhood streets. But I can say that a lot of sidewalks look like they haven't been touched. And if they haven't been touched at all, they're likely blocks of ice and not safe for students to walk on. Driving around today I saw some people walking in the lanes of the busy streets because the sidewalks were not walkable. So don't have issues with the call to close schools tomorrow and have them wait until the routes are walkable and it's reasonable to expect most people have shoveled out their cars by then. Not being prepared for virtual days is another matter... |
Anonymous
| I've also heard the argument that it disproportionately impacts students with disabilities. Bus routes are one of the main issues that keep schools from opening, so what happens if a child's home neighborhood/route is still iced in, but the school to which they are bussed is open? |
Anonymous
| Have you been outside, OP? I have and I don't understand how anyone thinks MCPS should have school tomorrow. I don't buy that 80% of staff can't make it in (come on). Anyone with a car can make it. If you chose not to clear the ice off your car on Sunday night that's on you. The main roads are fine, but there are still some issues for buses and the sidewalks are a complete mess. In our neighborhood a lot of grandparents take kids to school and/or pick them up. It is truly not safe for the elderly, younger kids or people with mobility issues. |
Anonymous
| Because selectively opening a handful of its 211 schools would cause so many logistical issues--pay, instructional issues, year extension, etc. It's inequitable. And because many students attend schools outside their neighborhoods and need to be able to safely get there. |
Anonymous
It's not inequitable. It is unequal or unfair. |
Anonymous
Sounds inefficient. |
Anonymous
Please send you grandparents over to take kids in our neighborhood to school. Elementary schools are on side streets with sidewalks filled with snow banks. |
Anonymous
Might be. I've never lived up there. I looked into it though because my kid is considering going to college up there. What was interesting to me is that they all have different salary, benefits, and curriculums. |
Anonymous
More than 20% could make it in. Don't be ridiculous. Op, the reason is the school system is a jobs program rather than an education system. |