Snow day

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.[i] 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.

My understanding is that they have done studies to see if this is viable. But because of a significant number of kids being bussed to programs that are not available at their base schools (Academies, IB/AP, AAP, TJ), opening schools selectively turns out to not be a viable plan.

FCPS even says in the video that they send out at the beginning of every winter season that they won’t consider doing this because of the busing issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think people are failing to differentiate between individuals making a judgment call for themselves and driving, and having busloads of kids being driven on those same roads, making frequent stops. The roads where I live will mostly be okay; it's flat, and although icy, is navigable with some care. I can see the exact same type of roads being problematic if they're icy.

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday are all sunny and above freezing during the day, so we should see enough melting to make the roads not as treacherous. It would be nice if VDOT came through and salted/sanded the roads, but that might also require that people report their sub-par road conditions.

Believe it or not, if schools open people can still make judgement calls. Yes there are exceptions but the bulk of people can weigh taking time off work to drive their walkers or walk to the bus stop against how dangerous that walk/drive is.

That's how schools opened more frequently 20 years ago. Because it was assumed that people would generally just make judgement calls after the schools made their own judgement call.

Can the teachers also be allotted that same judgment call?

[Anonymous]

Third neighbor friends said they are taking tomorrow off with kids for long weekend trips. SMH. That doesn’t help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Third neighbor friends said they are taking tomorrow off with kids for long weekend trips. SMH. That doesn’t help.

Help what? Who cares? How does that possibly affect you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There should be contingency bus routes in place. Parents can drive if needed/not comfortable. Walkers should flex and get driven.

It's not that hard.

LOL, not that hard to reroute hundreds of buses- haha!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Third neighbor friends said they are taking tomorrow off with kids for long weekend trips. SMH. That doesn’t help.

Why wouldn't they? I'm pretty sure most people have given up on FCPS and VDOT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think people are failing to differentiate between individuals making a judgment call for themselves and driving, and having busloads of kids being driven on those same roads, making frequent stops. The roads where I live will mostly be okay; it's flat, and although icy, is navigable with some care. I can see the exact same type of roads being problematic if they're icy.

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday are all sunny and above freezing during the day, so we should see enough melting to make the roads not as treacherous. It would be nice if VDOT came through and salted/sanded the roads, but that might also require that people report their sub-par road conditions.

Believe it or not, if schools open people can still make judgement calls. Yes there are exceptions but the bulk of people can weigh taking time off work to drive their walkers or walk to the bus stop against how dangerous that walk/drive is.

That's how schools opened more frequently 20 years ago. Because it was assumed that people would generally just make judgement calls after the schools made their own judgement call.

Can the teachers also be allotted that same judgment call?

I don't know what their contracts say, but as long as it's contractually allowed then of course. Same as...oh wait, most other white collar jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.[i] 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.

My understanding is that they have done studies to see if this is viable. But because of a significant number of kids being bussed to programs that are not available at their base schools (Academies, IB/AP, AAP, TJ), opening schools selectively turns out to not be a viable plan.

FCPS even says in the video that they send out at the beginning of every winter season that they won’t consider doing this because of the busing issue.

Hope they consider this with the boundary review. Great time to end AAP center schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There should be contingency bus routes in place. Parents can drive if needed/not comfortable. Walkers should flex and get driven.

It's not that hard.

LOL, not that hard to reroute hundreds of buses- haha!

No one said reroute. Consolidate bus stops. Put some THOUGHT into problems instead of just saying, “seems hard! Won’t do that.”

The degradation of public education is so sad. And no, having a couple days off school is not that big a deal. But this is just a tiny example of these once-great public school systems not having the skills, leadership, and resources to do anything well. It’s a bummer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think people are failing to differentiate between individuals making a judgment call for themselves and driving, and having busloads of kids being driven on those same roads, making frequent stops. The roads where I live will mostly be okay; it's flat, and although icy, is navigable with some care. I can see the exact same type of roads being problematic if they're icy.

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday are all sunny and above freezing during the day, so we should see enough melting to make the roads not as treacherous. It would be nice if VDOT came through and salted/sanded the roads, but that might also require that people report their sub-par road conditions.

Believe it or not, if schools open people can still make judgement calls. Yes there are exceptions but the bulk of people can weigh taking time off work to drive their walkers or walk to the bus stop against how dangerous that walk/drive is.

That's how schools opened more frequently 20 years ago. Because it was assumed that people would generally just make judgement calls after the schools made their own judgement call.

Can the teachers also be allotted that same judgment call?

Of course. Its called PTO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think people are failing to differentiate between individuals making a judgment call for themselves and driving, and having busloads of kids being driven on those same roads, making frequent stops. The roads where I live will mostly be okay; it's flat, and although icy, is navigable with some care. I can see the exact same type of roads being problematic if they're icy.

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday are all sunny and above freezing during the day, so we should see enough melting to make the roads not as treacherous. It would be nice if VDOT came through and salted/sanded the roads, but that might also require that people report their sub-par road conditions.

Believe it or not, if schools open people can still make judgement calls. Yes there are exceptions but the bulk of people can weigh taking time off work to drive their walkers or walk to the bus stop against how dangerous that walk/drive is.

That's how schools opened more frequently 20 years ago. Because it was assumed that people would generally just make judgement calls after the schools made their own judgement call.

Can the teachers also be allotted that same judgment call?

Are kids going to be penalized for not being able to make it? Are teachers allowed to teach new content? Are they allowed to give tests? One of DD's teachers has communicated that their mid-terms are next week. The period back will be used for review, and the following one for the test. What happens to the kids that cannot make it to the review class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There should be contingency bus routes in place. Parents can drive if needed/not comfortable. Walkers should flex and get driven.

It's not that hard.

LOL, not that hard to reroute hundreds of buses- haha!

No one said reroute. Consolidate bus stops. Put some THOUGHT into problems instead of just saying, “seems hard! Won’t do that.”

The degradation of public education is so sad. And no, having a couple days off school is not that big a deal. But this is just a tiny example of these once-great public school systems not having the skills, leadership, and resources to do anything well. It’s a bummer.

It's also true that the once-great FCPS was smaller once upon a time, which makes everything easier. Maybe those "split up Fairfax into multiple counties" posters have a point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Third neighbor friends said they are taking tomorrow off with kids for long weekend trips. SMH. That doesn’t help.

Help what? Who cares? How does that possibly affect you.

Would anticipate a HIGH % miss tomorrow. I would absolutely have gone on trip if could have so applause for those able to pull it off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think people are failing to differentiate between individuals making a judgment call for themselves and driving, and having busloads of kids being driven on those same roads, making frequent stops. The roads where I live will mostly be okay; it's flat, and although icy, is navigable with some care. I can see the exact same type of roads being problematic if they're icy.

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday are all sunny and above freezing during the day, so we should see enough melting to make the roads not as treacherous. It would be nice if VDOT came through and salted/sanded the roads, but that might also require that people report their sub-par road conditions.

Believe it or not, if schools open people can still make judgement calls. Yes there are exceptions but the bulk of people can weigh taking time off work to drive their walkers or walk to the bus stop against how dangerous that walk/drive is.

That's how schools opened more frequently 20 years ago. Because it was assumed that people would generally just make judgement calls after the schools made their own judgement call.

Can the teachers also be allotted that same judgment call?

Are kids going to be penalized for not being able to make it? Are teachers allowed to teach new content? Are they allowed to give tests? One of DD's teachers has communicated that their mid-terms are next week. The period back will be used for review, and the following one for the test. What happens to the kids that cannot make it to the review class?

I know there are horrible mean teachers out there, but I would expect that most would find ways to accommodate the edge cases in these situations.

I was a PWC kid at TJ back in the day. The policy was that if PWCPS was closed and FCPS was open all PWC kids had an excused absence and weren't expected at school. It happened very occasionally. Teachers accommodated us. We survived.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We need to accept that even if this has not been a regular thing in the past, these kind of snow events are not going away and will probably be more frequent with increasing climate change. Look at what is happening in Los Angeles! The weather isn’t going back to the way it was decades ago, it’s time for some problem-solving.

It’s not even that unusual. I have had kids in FCPS for a decade, and every 3 to 5 years we get a storm with this much accumulation. Obviously that’s not frequent, but we know it can and will happen. And it’s still early in the year, so more snow is possible.