School delayed and no sports or activities for 3 days straight just for cold weather?!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This
‘ The following is an update concerning MCPS’s operating status for today, Wednesday, and Thursday this week. Plowing school lots and walkways and addressing overnight refreezing has been challenging due to the cold temperatures. MCPS central and school-based staff continue to work to get schools and offices ready to open daily, and maintenance problems are prioritized for repair to ensure heat, water, and electrical service is not impacted. ’

Clearly states why they are delaying school and tomorrow.

There is no overnight refreezing that needs to be addressed in the morning. And building maintenance is no different than if it was 20 degrees warmer. You don't open up a school without electricity, heat, or water.

20 degrees colder means that mechanical systems can respond differently. And 20 degrees colder also means that you even more energetically do not want to have to empty a building to the outdoors in response to a maintenance emergency. That happened at my kid's school once (HVAC leak in a school with lockers, and none of the kids wearing coats when they had to rush out). If the temps had been this cold that day, there would have been even more serious problems. So yes, maintenance is operating differently right now.

The horrors! How do people even go to school in New York, Boston, Chicago, the entire country of Canada, etc? The kids may have to go outside if the heat breaks. Let’s keep everyone hermetically sealed when it’s below freezing.

You really think the MCPS HVAC systems are that fundamentally different than the significant portion of the world that functions in the cold?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just got a note that before care is opening 2 hours late tomorrow again. Did MCPS prohibit child care providers form opening on time, or is that just our provider’s choice? (They are not great about coverage so could be either.) TIA.

All childcare is delayed 2 hours too. Terrible decision

+1 I think parents should organize for legislation that requires MCPS to pay for parents' childcare costs when they require childcare providers to close and everything else (county, city, federal government) is open.

Definitely Chevy Chase, SAHM, on her third martini

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just got a note that before care is opening 2 hours late tomorrow again. Did MCPS prohibit child care providers form opening on time, or is that just our provider’s choice? (They are not great about coverage so could be either.) TIA.

All childcare is delayed 2 hours too. Terrible decision

+1 I think parents should organize for legislation that requires MCPS to pay for parents' childcare costs when they require childcare providers to close and everything else (county, city, federal government) is open.

Definitely Chevy Chase, SAHM, on her third martini

That attempt at a comeback makes zero sense

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just saw on the news that the wind chill temps tomorrow at 7 am are supposed to be -5 in Gaithersburg. There are many, many high schoolers in my neighborhood who have to walk a mile or more to get to school. Can you not see that the school delay is a sensible decision?

Practical comment: Gaithersburg or Rockville

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a bunch of whiners. It happens rarely. Just deal with it.

Not really. Just look at how many closures and delays there will be in January 2025 alone.

Sigh. It's called weather. MCPS has always closed for low temps, it's just that we don't have them every year, on a school day.

I am posting with years of experience as an MCPS parent. School districts in this area, including MCPS, generally err on the side of caution. Some districts are smaller and don't have buses or parking lots (DCPS) and can stay open. Some are large and deal with a ton of terrain and snow/ice variability (MCPS and FCPS) and need to close even when a good number of school properties are perfectly fine.

Now you know this! In five years, when we have the exact same scenario, there is a minuscule but non-negligible change you might even remember it!!!

And you'll be telling some other irate, dumbass parent who has kittens all over DCUM, exactly what I've told you.

Experienced MCPS parent with a kid already out of college and another one in high school. My time with MCPS spans between 2004 and now. Cold weather was never a reason (or rarely) to close or have delayed openings. The only time it caused delayed openings was when there was significant black ice.

I also notice that the county keeps sending out texts about cold weather alerts. This is also a new thing this year. I have never seen this in the past. The county is getting soft too.

My neighbor has kids in private school which usually follows MCPS for weather delays and closures. The school has decided to make decisions outside of MCPS because of their ridiculous delays. Wishing I had decided to move my younger one to private years ago. Too late now. Neighbor's kids had basketball practice after school. No problem.

My kids are the same age as yours and I definitely remember MCPS closing for the polar vortex some years ago before the pandemic. I don’t feel strongly either way except that I recognize it would be unsafe for my kid to walk the mile plus in this weather, especially as we have no sidewalks, so I would have to drive her to school. I can see making a decision that it’s unsafe for lots of kids especially if they have to leave in the dark. I’m a little unclear on why they are canceling indoor sporting events and extracurriculars but I guess they don’t want teen drivers driving teammates to away games.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This
‘ The following is an update concerning MCPS’s operating status for today, Wednesday, and Thursday this week. Plowing school lots and walkways and addressing overnight refreezing has been challenging due to the cold temperatures. MCPS central and school-based staff continue to work to get schools and offices ready to open daily, and maintenance problems are prioritized for repair to ensure heat, water, and electrical service is not impacted. ’

Clearly states why they are delaying school and tomorrow.

There is no overnight refreezing that needs to be addressed in the morning. And building maintenance is no different than if it was 20 degrees warmer. You don't open up a school without electricity, heat, or water.

Kensington: has been an infectious disease expert, Ukraine war expert, Middle East policy expert and is now a meteorologist

[Anonymous]

The fact that this year when there is a closure they also close childcare and if there is a delay they also delay childcare, that is a big change from before. The childcare providers themselves claim that MCPS rarely closes offices but that is not the case this year. And I've yet to see any explanation for this. Just liars claiming MCPS doesn't make thoss decisions lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When MCPS doesn't allow childcare providers to operate, parents lose access to childcare they have already paid for and providers lose revenue from kids that drop in. MCPS should pay that money back since the decision is their fault. These decisions are a huge middle finger to working parents.

And the arguments about children at bus stops/ out in the cold dont hold for childcare. Now I have to loose another 2 hours of work each day this week for no apparent reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This
‘ The following is an update concerning MCPS’s operating status for today, Wednesday, and Thursday this week. Plowing school lots and walkways and addressing overnight refreezing has been challenging due to the cold temperatures. MCPS central and school-based staff continue to work to get schools and offices ready to open daily, and maintenance problems are prioritized for repair to ensure heat, water, and electrical service is not impacted. ’

Clearly states why they are delaying school and tomorrow.

There is no overnight refreezing that needs to be addressed in the morning. And building maintenance is no different than if it was 20 degrees warmer. You don't open up a school without electricity, heat, or water.

20 degrees colder means that mechanical systems can respond differently. And 20 degrees colder also means that you even more energetically do not want to have to empty a building to the outdoors in response to a maintenance emergency. That happened at my kid's school once (HVAC leak in a school with lockers, and none of the kids wearing coats when they had to rush out). If the temps had been this cold that day, there would have been even more serious problems. So yes, maintenance is operating differently right now.

The relevant "mechanical systems" are indoors.

How do you think other states deal with winter?

But needing to rush out of a building in December is different in Fargo than it is in Florida. It's more important right now that situations like that be prevented.

And buildings and systems are built for the climates they are in, not for occasional radical changes in said climate that are rare and dramatic. That's why the cold snap in Texas a few years ago had such dramatic and dangerous impact.

I’m not an engineer but I highly doubt there’s major differences in the ways systems and buildings are built in Montgomery County compared to, for example, Philly and NY suburbs. And there’s so much variance based on the age of the building, last time HVAC replaced, and so on that’s it is hard to see MoCo being uniquely more susceptible to some catastrophic mechanical failure during the first two hours of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This
‘ The following is an update concerning MCPS’s operating status for today, Wednesday, and Thursday this week. Plowing school lots and walkways and addressing overnight refreezing has been challenging due to the cold temperatures. MCPS central and school-based staff continue to work to get schools and offices ready to open daily, and maintenance problems are prioritized for repair to ensure heat, water, and electrical service is not impacted. ’

Clearly states why they are delaying school and tomorrow.

There is no overnight refreezing that needs to be addressed in the morning. And building maintenance is no different than if it was 20 degrees warmer. You don't open up a school without electricity, heat, or water.

20 degrees colder means that mechanical systems can respond differently. And 20 degrees colder also means that you even more energetically do not want to have to empty a building to the outdoors in response to a maintenance emergency. That happened at my kid's school once (HVAC leak in a school with lockers, and none of the kids wearing coats when they had to rush out). If the temps had been this cold that day, there would have been even more serious problems. So yes, maintenance is operating differently right now.

The relevant "mechanical systems" are indoors.

How do you think other states deal with winter?

But needing to rush out of a building in December is different in Fargo than it is in Florida. It's more important right now that situations like that be prevented.

And buildings and systems are built for the climates they are in, not for occasional radical changes in said climate that are rare and dramatic. That's why the cold snap in Texas a few years ago had such dramatic and dangerous impact.

What do you think they have in Fargo that allows them to emergently evacuate buildings that we can't do here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You must be new here. We have delays for "cold weather" every year there's cold weather. We got a reprieve for a the last couple, because it was unseasonably warm, but this is not the first year we've had polar vortex-related delays/cancellations.

MCPS parent since 2009. The above is correct - they have definitely delayed in the past for cold. Get used to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When MCPS doesn't allow childcare providers to operate, parents lose access to childcare they have already paid for and providers lose revenue from kids that drop in. MCPS should pay that money back since the decision is their fault. These decisions are a huge middle finger to working parents.

If you need to have reliable childcare that is not based on MCPS closings, maybe you should find a different provider than the one onsite at your school. You have agency here.

+1. You get to choose whether and where and when you work. You get to choose what back up childcare arrangements will provide the most coverage for your circumstances. The school system prioritizes operations and safety. They are very cautious with winter closures. They are not going to prioritize your employment choices and circumstances over safety of the children and employees they serve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When MCPS doesn't allow childcare providers to operate, parents lose access to childcare they have already paid for and providers lose revenue from kids that drop in. MCPS should pay that money back since the decision is their fault. These decisions are a huge middle finger to working parents.

If you need to have reliable childcare that is not based on MCPS closings, maybe you should find a different provider than the one onsite at your school. You have agency here.

+1. You get to choose whether and where and when you work. You get to choose what back up childcare arrangements will provide the most coverage for your circumstances. The school system prioritizes operations and safety. They are very cautious with winter closures. They are not going to prioritize your employment choices and circumstances over safety of the children and employees they serve.

Nobody is buying these ridiculous excuses and deflections from MCPS mismanaging taxpayer funded resources

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This
‘ The following is an update concerning MCPS’s operating status for today, Wednesday, and Thursday this week. Plowing school lots and walkways and addressing overnight refreezing has been challenging due to the cold temperatures. MCPS central and school-based staff continue to work to get schools and offices ready to open daily, and maintenance problems are prioritized for repair to ensure heat, water, and electrical service is not impacted. ’

Clearly states why they are delaying school and tomorrow.

There is no overnight refreezing that needs to be addressed in the morning. And building maintenance is no different than if it was 20 degrees warmer. You don't open up a school without electricity, heat, or water.

Kensington: has been an infectious disease expert, Ukraine war expert, Middle East policy expert and is now a meteorologist

Are you saying you don't know the freezing point of water? That's embarrassing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I completely approve of their decision. This is unusual frigid temperature, and after school activities are not cancelled.

Yes yes they were canceled today in fact

Sports practice was not cancelled at my kid’s HS.