Snow day

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for reaching out and for your advocacy. As school closures is operational in nature, I will request that Dr. Reid’s staff respond to your message.

Please don’t hesitate to reach back out if you have not heard from someone within FCPS in a timely fashion.

Thank you,



Sandy


They emailed me back

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really wish they would just tell us now. Nothing is going to change in the next 6 /8 hours. Delay or close. People need to plan, make arrangements

Plan on it being closed. There you go.

[Anonymous]

Baffling that people assume and totally accept that school will be closed Monday as well. Staying closed for more than a full week after a moderate snowfall (not "epic" as Dr. Reid mentioned in her first email) is total BS. WTF is wrong with people for not having an issue with that? My kid (age 13) is finally able to entertain himself on snow days and doesn't need a lot of oversight, but we all need to get back into our routines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you so much for reaching out and for your advocacy. As school closures is operational in nature, I will request that Dr. Reid’s staff respond to your message.

Please don’t hesitate to reach back out if you have not heard from someone within FCPS in a timely fashion.

Thank you,



Sandy


They emailed me back

Hahahaha to the bolded.

[Anonymous]

If FCPS had a back up plan like...virtual teaching, what would the parents complain about that just want the kids out of the house?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If FCPS had a back up plan like...virtual teaching, what would the parents complain about that just want the kids out of the house?

They had that in 2022 when they closed school for a week after break (and unlike this year it was warm enough that by Thursday it was even more ridiculous but it had to do with Covid as much as snow). There was a 6th snow day when they implemented virtual learning. You try helping a kindergartener who has never done virtual school before figure out whatever virtual classroom app they are using these days while simultaneously working and tell me how fun it is.

I'd rather it just be a snow day.

[Anonymous]

Everyone who keeps saying there needs to be contingency plan for snow - there is, its having extra hours baked into the year to ensure still meet the requirements. And if we exceed that (and the extra cushion that VDOE may exempt) extend the year. That is a contingency plan. Maybe not the one you would have created, but it is one.

Our neighborhood has high schoolers advertising their babysitting availability. There are parents coordinating with other parents to trade days.

I'm just extremely glad that I'm not Reid and it's not my job to make these decisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in APS and a student came in with their face all bloody because they slipped on ICE.

That's a skill issue.

So what cancel school all winter?
If kids can be outside all say sledding they can survive going to school.

You don’t understand the difference? Really? Damn, some of you people REALLY aren’t very bright.

No, I don't. Kid have been outside running up and down the icy sidewalks to go sledding all week. Accidents happen. There is ice in winter.

Well, it’s a good thing you aren’t in charge of the logistics of a school district with several thousands of students to transport then. Dimwit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Baffling that people assume and totally accept that school will be closed Monday as well. Staying closed for more than a full week after a moderate snowfall (not "epic" as Dr. Reid mentioned in her first email) is total BS. WTF is wrong with people for not having an issue with that? My kid (age 13) is finally able to entertain himself on snow days and doesn't need a lot of oversight, but we all need to get back into our routines.

It's nice to see an honest poster but, nevertheless, it's not about you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's mostly VDOT's fault, but it's also FCPS's faut. There should be contingency plans in place. Not every bus stop is going to be ice-free, and that cannot be the standard for sending a county full of children to school.

It's so sad how education is never at the top of the list of priorities.

OMG. Just stop. There are literally thousands of bus stops. We do not get a consistent snowfall each year. And you want people sitting around making contingency plans.

I can’t tell which you have more of: entitlement or stupidity.

I can promise you I am neither entitled nor stupid. But the superintendent seems to think that every bus stop needs to be cleared with a blow dryer in order to send kids to school. Consolidate bus stops. Have a designated consolidated bus stop for snow events. Have kids wait somewhere else. We got 6 inches of snow, these are not giant mounds. The kids will be fine. It’s so pathetic here.

Reid is not expecting perfection for each bus stop. You seem to think someone can just snap their fingers and plot out new bus stops for 100K kids AND communicate that quickly to both families and drivers (most of whom English is not their first language). That’s hilarious. That would be an absolute nightmare, and you’d be the first person complaining. Yeah, I’m going with entitled.

Also, it was more than 6 inches. The mounds of snow are from the places that actually got plowed.
Fairfax County snow totals

Newington: 10.0 inches (1100 PM 1/06, NWS Employee)

Burke 2 S: 9.6 inches (1013 PM 1/06, Public)

Lorton: 9.5 inches (1000 PM 1/06, NWS Employee)

Hybla Valley 1 ESE: 9.5 inches (947 PM 1/06, Trained Spotter)

West Springfield 2 W: 9.3 inches (1010 PM 1/06, Trained Spotter)

Fairfax Station 1 SE: 9.2 inches (1145 PM 1/06, Trained Spotter)

Centreville 3 SSE: 9.0 inches (900 PM 1/06, Trained Spotter)

Rose Hill ENE: 9.0 inches (945 PM 1/06, Trained Spotter)

Fairfax NE: 8.1 inches (1040 PM 1/06, Public)

Wolf Trap 2 WSW: 8.0 inches (1100 PM 1/06, Public)

Fairfax 1 N: 8.0 inches (1045 PM 1/06, NWS Employee)

Fairfax 1 SW: 8.0 inches (1100 PM 1/06, Emergency Manager)

Chantilly 2 ENE: 7.8 inches (930 PM 1/06, Trained Spotter)

The I395 and I495 1: 7.5 inches (951 PM 1/06, Trained Spotter)

Chantilly 1 SE: 6.5 inches (848 PM 1/06, Trained Spotter)

Centreville W: 6.3 inches (1000 PM 1/06, Trained Spotter)

Herndon 1 NNE: 6.1 inches (900 PM 1/06, NWS Employee)

Herndon 2 ENE: 5.9 inches (150 AM 1/07, Trained Spotter)

Sterling Park 2 ENE: 5.1 inches (1030 PM 1/06, Trained Spotter)

https://www.fox5dc.com/ne...6-2025.amp

I am not saying that anyone should be snapping their fingers at all. I am saying the opposite. I am saying that smart people should be able to figure out contingency plans for events such as this. Find a way to open some of the schools. Maybe we don’t need to do it as the entire county. Maybe we can come up with contingency plans for bus stops. My point is that there should be thought about this kind of thing in advance so that we are not stuck in these situations when they inevitably happen. So again, the complete opposite of snapping a finger.

“Opening some of the schools” is never, ever going to happen, so can you all please stop repeatedly suggesting it as if you’ve come up with some brilliant new idea? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Don’t be mad at Reid. Direct your anger to whoever is responsible for clearing neighborhood roads and driveways leading up to schools because they have done a crappy job.

Yes. I can navigate my street in my Subaru with 4 wheel drive but I am not ignorant to think that a bus can easily or consistently navigate them.

I 100% want my kids back at school. My high schooler is stressed about the amount of work he will have just to catch up. But blaming the school system for roads not being clear or expecting schools to be open just because your road is does not make any rational sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If FCPS had a back up plan like...virtual teaching, what would the parents complain about that just want the kids out of the house?

They had that in 2022 when they closed school for a week after break (and unlike this year it was warm enough that by Thursday it was even more ridiculous but it had to do with Covid as much as snow). There was a 6th snow day when they implemented virtual learning. You try helping a kindergartener who has never done virtual school before figure out whatever virtual classroom app they are using these days while simultaneously working and tell me how fun it is.

I'd rather it just be a snow day.

Exactly! Be careful what you wish for. At least your kids are home doing nothing. Imagine if they were home and you had to help them with their schoolwork.

[Anonymous]

I think there are tons of shady contractors and lazy VDOT drivers marking roads as done (and getting paid for doing them) but not actually plowing anything. We haven't seen a plow in days. Where are the plows?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there are tons of shady contractors and lazy VDOT drivers marking roads as done (and getting paid for doing them) but not actually plowing anything. We haven't seen a plow in days. Where are the plows?

Someone upthread said to blame a labor shortage and I think that's probably right. Same as when there was a major trash issue in Fairfax County a few years ago.

But bus stops are absolutely on the neighborhoods. And school sidewalks not being clear are on the system. Drove by Lake Braddock yesterday and the sidewalks were completely untouched. Legally it's FCPS's responsibility to get those cleared.

[Anonymous]

I feel the tone of this 166 page thread has gotten more feral in the past 24 hours.