There will be no school all week - Here is why.

[Anonymous]

The reasons the school system is not open today, Monday, will still exist tomorrow and through the rest of the week. Yes, many neighborhoods are still just one way roads. The turns are right, unable to be used by a school bus. The bus stops are not cleared. I understand the reasons the school is not open. But, nothing is being done about it.

They could send out 15-20 plow trucks and clear the corners in neighborhoods, then spread additional sand in the neighborhoods. Fairfax County is 405 square miles so it's a large area. But, it's doable if they pushed for it. Look at it this way, this amount of snow and cold is normal for anyone living north of PA. I was born and raised here and had school in worse conditions than this. I lived in New England for ten years and having a foot of snow a week was nothing. It was just part of life. Everyone went to work. Schools were open.

The reasons they closed school on Monday have merit, but nothing is being done to remedy those issues. Therefore, how can we have school the rest of the week when temps don't even rise above 30 during the daytime and at night it's below 10 degrees.

[Anonymous]

They should have been working on this all of last week. Clown behavior.

[Anonymous]

There will be incremental progress made every day this week. Blocked lanes will be plowed, snowcrete on sidewalks will soften enough to be cleared. Thursday 2 hour delay is my prediction for the re-opening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They should have been working on this all of last week. Clown behavior.

Who is they? Everyone but you?

[Anonymous]

Ice and snow are not the same.

They can't snap their fingers and make plows and drivers appear out of thin air. For one thing, southern VA got hit with snow a few days ago, and plows went down there. For another, at least some of the drivers for VDOT are independent contractors with other gigs going.

Ice and snow are not the same.

Weather.com says that highs will be above freezing every day this week,(42 degrees tomorrow). Whatever equipment and manpower that can be deployed will be able to do more than they can in sub-freezing temps. However, large banks of ice will still be hard to clear, especially since we go below freezing every night.

Ice and snow are not the same.

FCPS is not all-powerful and has to work with the weather, personnel, equipment and supplies/budget that they have. This storm is not like other storms because...

Ice and snow are not the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should have been working on this all of last week. Clown behavior.

Who is they? Everyone but you?

VDOT for the roads and people who live in the area for the sidewalks. Totally ridiculous they were checking things out yesterday. They should have done that last Tuesday and come up with a plan instead of not educating 180,000 kids for over a week. Clowns.

[Anonymous]

Fast forward to tomorrow. Open with a 2 hour delay

[Anonymous]

Next week gets up to nearly 50 degrees. Two weeks off for a storm like this is precedented. I believe that FCPS wants kids back and can plainly see it is not safe or feasible right now. I’m doubtful they’ll get it all done today, and given the smatterings of different snow expected throughout the week, it seems like a mess to try to open until next Monday. But maybe I’m a pessimist.

[Anonymous]

Drove past LBSS this weekend and there are completely uncleared sidewalks typically used by walkers.

Not sure how this is supposed to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Drove past LBSS this weekend and there are completely uncleared sidewalks typically used by walkers.

Not sure how this is supposed to work.

yes, saw it sunday, kids will be in the street. This is the largest school in VA and all the sidewalks surrounding the school are super high. No clearing at bus stops in our neighborhood. Driveways pristine, but sidewalks untouched all throughout.

So unsafe. Kids should be back in school, but how can they walk with no clearing?

[Anonymous]

In the North, you'd be walking on a snow covered sidewalk. Sometimes you fall. You wear the proper attire and you tough it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ice and snow are not the same.

They can't snap their fingers and make plows and drivers appear out of thin air. For one thing, southern VA got hit with snow a few days ago, and plows went down there. For another, at least some of the drivers for VDOT are independent contractors with other gigs going.

Ice and snow are not the same.

Weather.com says that highs will be above freezing every day this week,(42 degrees tomorrow). Whatever equipment and manpower that can be deployed will be able to do more than they can in sub-freezing temps. However, large banks of ice will still be hard to clear, especially since we go below freezing every night.

Ice and snow are not the same.

FCPS is not all-powerful and has to work with the weather, personnel, equipment and supplies/budget that they have. This storm is not like other storms because...

Ice and snow are not the same.

Yes ice and snow are not the same but does VDOT know that? Whose bright idea was it to send pick up plow trucks and just clear enough for one car to be able to pass at a time. Were they not aware that we are going to have freezing temperature the entire week and it’s best to clear the entire road because it WILL turn into ice. Such lack of foresight and leadership by Fairfax county.

We had a plow truck in our street on Sunday and they kept clearing a narrow 10 foot lane instead of making sure the entire road was clear. Thats why the buses can’t go on our street and students can’t walk in the narrow lanes because they will get hit by a car. VDOT and Fairfax county clearly mismanaged this. We get it was ice but they knew that 10 days ahead and also had the entire week last week to fix it. FCPS has cleared up all their sidewalks and parking lots but they can’t clean areas that are not in their domain. I too grew up in the north and the county always had a plan for such storms but seems like Fairfax just likes to sit around and wait for the snow to magically go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drove past LBSS this weekend and there are completely uncleared sidewalks typically used by walkers.

Not sure how this is supposed to work.

yes, saw it sunday, kids will be in the street. This is the largest school in VA and all the sidewalks surrounding the school are super high. No clearing at bus stops in our neighborhood. Driveways pristine, but sidewalks untouched all throughout.

So unsafe. Kids should be back in school, but how can they walk with no clearing?

Yep, my kids are LBSS walkers. And the Burke Rd intersection is a hot mess (where kids would cross) to boot.

The surrounding sidewalks leading to/perimeter of LBSS are not the HOA or residents' responsibilities. Hence the icy piles of untouched snow banks.

There are 100s of walkers given it's a huge 7-12 grade school (moreso than the average grades 9-12) so getting to school for a large percentage of kids is definitely a significant part of the equation.

You are preaching to the choir

[Anonymous]

Why can't parents drive kids if they can't walk?? It seems my options are to either take off an entire day of work and stay home with my kids, or drive them to school. I think all working parents will choose #2.

I get that school isn't childcare, but schools need to understand that parents have to work.

[Anonymous]

Op - you are comparing apples to oranges.

"A foot of snow in NE" is drastically different than 7 inches of snowcrete.
Mid Atlantic states don't have the resources. They just don't. NE states, given their consistent winter weather, do have endless parades of snow plows, dump trucks to haul away snow, a cavalry of workers and contractors.
The mid Atlantic, not so much.

Plus, ice is a different beast . I'd love to have a foot of snow instead like what NE gets.