Snow day

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

The only plows I have seen in the last two days have been driving around with the snow plow blade up, not plowing anything.

I just picked up my teen's best friend (mom had to work) in 22101 - their street was TOTALLY iced. While I was waiting outside a plow went by, blade up. I don't think they can do anything. It is a total failure. It was super treacherous to leave the neighborhood. I spun out (and am experienced snow/ice driver). The best friend says that area that was super bad is the bus stop!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

The problem is this county is now full of people like the PP who overthink everything and get paralyzed by it. So then the answer is to just do nothing. Meanwhile, these same people look down on other school systems who come up with solutions to get the majority of kids back in school. There’s just a complete lack of vision and will from leadership and a significant number of residents nowadays. We saw it with Covid and now we see it with snow events.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

All kids need the routine. Being home all day isn't good for anyone.

Oh well. Weather happens. Handle it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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. [/quote

This. So much whining-it does not help
Anything.

[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

[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.

Sad how inept we have become as a people.

[Anonymous]

some of you sound like absolute delights in real life. gems, truly.

[Anonymous]

Whats the point of snowplows driving around with their blades up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Sad how inept we have become as a people.

Inept, as in unable to pivot from a week off of school that is accounted for in the already scheduled calendar? I agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whats the point of snowplows driving around with their blades up?

It takes longer and is more work to actually plow. If they drive the route with the blades up, the GPS will register it as plowed
and the contractor gets paid.

[Anonymous]

Is there any reason why virtual school isn't done during these times? Why are kids away from school for a week because of 3 inches of snow?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

All kids need the routine. Being home all day isn't good for anyone.

Oh well. Weather happens. Handle it.

Such a tired argument. We are calling for solutions to handle "weather". We don't all want to sit at home sipping cocoa endlessly like you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Just wait until next week when we're looking at a closure on Monday and Tuesday.

The Friday night snow threat seems to be diminishing, zero chance FCPS is closed Monday.

It's going to snow on Saturday morning. Monday may be a two hour delay or closed day depending on how much accumulation. The temperatures also remain freezing so that is not helping.

[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.

You obviously haven’t given it any thought if you don’t think that some buses will have to be rerouted, even to do this consolidation that you speak of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there any reason why virtual school isn't done during these times? Why are kids away from school for a week because of 3 inches of snow?

Because its pointless AND because the VA dept of education will not count virtual as a counted school say.