Another snow day!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The schools were not cleared.

Which schools and why not? The ones near us were. And if they couldn't clear them yesterday they should have just cancelled last night or early this morning.

All the schools around me were cleared. Apparently Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria and PG counties were able to figure it out. Maybe MCPS should ask them about their snow and ice clearing protocol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe they waited until the last minute to make the call.

They called it at 7:34 am. High school on a 2-hour delay starts at 9:45 am. Nobody was on a bus or walking to school yet. (My high school senior is going back to bed.)

That’s still too late for those of us with a long drive.

That was my first thought. Not everyone is going to a neighborhood school five minutes away. It was late.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Snow/ice removal comes down to equipment and labor. Who’s willing to have their property taxes increased to cover these costs?

Have they cut the budget for these services over time? Obviously this place has never been western NY in terms of snow removal but I grew up around here and IMO the ability to handle minor snow events has declined over time. Either that or the tolerance for anything other than completely ice/snow free sidewalks and roads.

But anyway, I thought it was a bit odd that central office was giving itself a 2hr delay today when there was no similar OPM call. Clearly someone there was scared about having to drive to work.

I think it's both. And we're raising the next generation to believe that any snow or lingering ice warrants a snow day, like in the deep south.

It's mostly a tolerance thing. Are there patches of snow/ice on some roads and sidewalks? Sure, but not enough to shut things down.

Have we trained people to think that if things are open, then it must be safe to drive full speed? I just don't understand how anyone could think it's reasonable to shut things down under these conditions. I'm not talking about the whether-- I mean the conditions of the roads and sidewalks. States in the north would have to shut down all winter if the current roads weren't acceptable.

How many times do people have to reply to posts like this? We ARENT in the north and therefore, were not prepared. We’re living in Montgomery county Maryland in case you haven’t noticed. That’s like saying we should be prepared for 123 degree summers because Arizona is. Use your brain.

Go outside and practice walking on ice so you are more prepared on Friday. We haven't had much snow the past few years so I understand you are out of practice. But I am from the DMV and there wasn't such angst about slippery sidewalks 30 years ago. It was just part of, you know, WINTER. This isn't Arizona, this was not some freak event.

Tell us about snowfall and winter temperatures in Montgomery County, Maryland, 30 years ago, vs. now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes this seems like a VERY late call to me. Probably was waiting until the last minute. Is there a published list of cutoff times that MCPS tries to adhere to?

It's all McKnight's fault! I blame her!

I blame Joshua Starr. Damn you, Joshua Starr!!!!!!!!11111111111!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry, but this is a total joke. “Persistent difficulties with ice removal”? They had the entire day yesterday to remove the 4-5 inches of snow. If it’s now persistent ice it’s because they failed to remove it yesterday and froze overnight. We walked up to our ES yesterday and it was plowed to the pavement.

Breaking news: this is a huge county. Conditions might be different in other places. The world doesn’t revolve around you.

They have been fully capable of clearing it in past years. I don’t remember ever getting an oops we couldn’t get the school grounds cleared 2 hrs bf school was scheduled to start. They would have known this last night. Add this to the kids already in school - hey it’s windy early dismissal sorry we didn’t bother to tell you sooner.

Yes, it's happened before. My child was getting ready to head to their high school bus and suddenly we got a message that instead of a 2 hour delay schools would be closed. This was a few years back but it does happen here in Montgomery County.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There should be school. Since it is canceled it is time to cancel some of the contingency days and add back meaningful instruction time. No adding days in June after AP tests. Add them earlier. People who have plans can have excused absences.

They are going to claw back some spring break days

There’s built in days. We aren’t there yet and they aren’t going to do it for Spring Break. Too many staff members would be out. The kids will be fine. The sky is falling crowd because kids missed 2 days of school is wild.

Closing today doesn't speak well for the likelihood we'll have enough extra days built into the calendar.

MCPS always schedules 185 school days despite the state minimum of 180. That doesn’t include the days they have designated as potential make up days. It’s a hot spot for teachers because the union isn’t allowed to negotiate the length of the school year (or class size). Btw, the state only requires 168 school days from private schools. So talk to me again about learning loss

No, up until a few years ago MCPS would schedule 184 days, but now they schedule 182, which allows for 2 snow days before makeups are required.

From the printed calendar: If the school year is disrupted by emergencies and schools are closed three or more days, dates identified as possible
make-up instructional days include: November 1, 2023; January 29, March 25-26, April 10, April 22, June 14 and June 17–18, 2024.

I predict they will use April 22 and June 14, if necessary.

June 14th will definitely be the first to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Snow/ice removal comes down to equipment and labor. Who’s willing to have their property taxes increased to cover these costs?

Have they cut the budget for these services over time? Obviously this place has never been western NY in terms of snow removal but I grew up around here and IMO the ability to handle minor snow events has declined over time. Either that or the tolerance for anything other than completely ice/snow free sidewalks and roads.

But anyway, I thought it was a bit odd that central office was giving itself a 2hr delay today when there was no similar OPM call. Clearly someone there was scared about having to drive to work.

I think it's both. And we're raising the next generation to believe that any snow or lingering ice warrants a snow day, like in the deep south.

It's mostly a tolerance thing. Are there patches of snow/ice on some roads and sidewalks? Sure, but not enough to shut things down.

Have we trained people to think that if things are open, then it must be safe to drive full speed? I just don't understand how anyone could think it's reasonable to shut things down under these conditions. I'm not talking about the whether-- I mean the conditions of the roads and sidewalks. States in the north would have to shut down all winter if the current roads weren't acceptable.

States up North get snow and ice every winter — and they budget, plan, and tax accordingly. We haven’t had an accumulation of snow like this in several years. Reasonable people get this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The schools were not cleared.

Which schools and why not? The ones near us were. And if they couldn't clear them yesterday they should have just cancelled last night or early this morning.

All the schools around me were cleared. Apparently Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria and PG counties were able to figure it out. Maybe MCPS should ask them about their snow and ice clearing protocol.

+1. I’m not asking MoCo to be more like New England, I just expect they can handle it in a similar manner to PG county. Apparently that’s too much to ask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Snow/ice removal comes down to equipment and labor. Who’s willing to have their property taxes increased to cover these costs?

Have they cut the budget for these services over time? Obviously this place has never been western NY in terms of snow removal but I grew up around here and IMO the ability to handle minor snow events has declined over time. Either that or the tolerance for anything other than completely ice/snow free sidewalks and roads.

But anyway, I thought it was a bit odd that central office was giving itself a 2hr delay today when there was no similar OPM call. Clearly someone there was scared about having to drive to work.

I think it's both. And we're raising the next generation to believe that any snow or lingering ice warrants a snow day, like in the deep south.

It's mostly a tolerance thing. Are there patches of snow/ice on some roads and sidewalks? Sure, but not enough to shut things down.

Have we trained people to think that if things are open, then it must be safe to drive full speed? I just don't understand how anyone could think it's reasonable to shut things down under these conditions. I'm not talking about the whether-- I mean the conditions of the roads and sidewalks. States in the north would have to shut down all winter if the current roads weren't acceptable.

Do you live in Maryland? Have you encountered any Maryland drivers?

Although MD is like the north politically, they are much more similar to southern states in terms of handling inclement weather and clearing the roads. Driving around yesterday, I was pretty shocked at how bad the main roads were in MD compared to DC and NoVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There should be school. Since it is canceled it is time to cancel some of the contingency days and add back meaningful instruction time. No adding days in June after AP tests. Add them earlier. People who have plans can have excused absences.

They are going to claw back some spring break days

There’s built in days. We aren’t there yet and they aren’t going to do it for Spring Break. Too many staff members would be out. The kids will be fine. The sky is falling crowd because kids missed 2 days of school is wild.

Closing today doesn't speak well for the likelihood we'll have enough extra days built into the calendar.

MCPS always schedules 185 school days despite the state minimum of 180. That doesn’t include the days they have designated as potential make up days. It’s a hot spot for teachers because the union isn’t allowed to negotiate the length of the school year (or class size). Btw, the state only requires 168 school days from private schools. So talk to me again about learning loss

No, up until a few years ago MCPS would schedule 184 days, but now they schedule 182, which allows for 2 snow days before makeups are required.

From the printed calendar: If the school year is disrupted by emergencies and schools are closed three or more days, dates identified as possible
make-up instructional days include: November 1, 2023; January 29, March 25-26, April 10, April 22, June 14 and June 17–18, 2024.

I predict they will use April 22 and June 14, if necessary.

June 14th will definitely be the first to go.

+1 this will annoy teachers who will possibly need to come back the following week for one day to wrap up, but makes the most sense. The April days coincide with Eid and Passover. Given current geopolitical events, I think they’d be wiser to go with June 14 before touching either of those.

[Anonymous]

If MCPS didn’t get its facilities cleared then they needed to close. But the question then is why didn’t they get their facilities cleared?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If MCPS didn’t get its facilities cleared then they needed to close. But the question then is why didn’t they get their facilities cleared?

Everything was cleared at our elementary by early afternoon, I suppose high school campuses have a lot more to clear, but I'm sure they managed. The email was purposefully worded vaguely, but I suspect it wasn't the MCPS facilities - it was the side streets and sidewalks across the county that posed just enough of a hazard this morning that they changed their minds. Which is stupid, because they should have known this last night. I walked my dog outside at 10pm yesterday, and everything was iced over exactly the same way as this morning, when we went for the same walk. DUH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The schools were not cleared.

Which schools and why not? The ones near us were. And if they couldn't clear them yesterday they should have just cancelled last night or early this morning.

All the schools around me were cleared. Apparently Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria and PG counties were able to figure it out. Maybe MCPS should ask them about their snow and ice clearing protocol.

+1. I’m not asking MoCo to be more like New England, I just expect they can handle it in a similar manner to PG county. Apparently that’s too much to ask.

To be fair when I looked at the weather forecast on Monday it did look like MoCo and Howard were going to get more snow than areas south and southwest. Both have schools closed today. Loudoun is also closed and so are their offices. The DMV is a big area and weather impacts can differ significantly between counties.

[Anonymous]

Yayyy! As an MCPS employee who has to go in person every.single.day,. I am loving the telework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If MCPS didn’t get its facilities cleared then they needed to close. But the question then is why didn’t they get their facilities cleared?

Everything was cleared at our elementary by early afternoon, I suppose high school campuses have a lot more to clear, but I'm sure they managed. The email was purposefully worded vaguely, but I suspect it wasn't the MCPS facilities - it was the side streets and sidewalks across the county that posed just enough of a hazard this morning that they changed their minds. Which is stupid, because they should have known this last night. I walked my dog outside at 10pm yesterday, and everything was iced over exactly the same way as this morning, when we went for the same walk. DUH.

Nope. Before the announcement this morning, we received an email from building services that said our parking lot wasn't cleared, was dangerous to drive in, and to proceed with caution. Middle school upcounty. Again, just because *your* area was cleared, doesnt mean everyone's was. Not sure what is difficult to understand about this, but people in MoCo seem to all have narcissistic thinking.