Is it time for MCPS to be more bold in having regular school when it snows?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the county allowed certain schools to make their own opening decision on snow days there would be a lot of schools who suddenly see like 60% of their teachers quit to go to other schools or districts

I'm sure there are a lot of teachers who would have preferred to brave the conditions on Monday rather than tack another day on at the end of the year.

Possibly. But the ones who wouldn't shouldn't be forced to take leave when other teachers get days off. This is why there is a union. To try to create balance and equity for the entire workforce regardless of where they work. And before you say, "then let those teachers not use their leave balance" you don't understand how labor contracts and employment policies actually work. It would create massive loopholes that would be exploited

They wouldn't have needed to take leave. They could have worked.

What about the teachers who couldn't make it to the school that decided to open?

Yeah that won't fly with the union. You can complain all you want but that's why unions exist. To create equitable working conditions and practices for everyone.

Find alternative transportation of you're unwilling or unable to drive yourself. Ubers were out.

What do you think other people do? Most people don't get snow days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the county allowed certain schools to make their own opening decision on snow days there would be a lot of schools who suddenly see like 60% of their teachers quit to go to other schools or districts

I'm sure there are a lot of teachers who would have preferred to brave the conditions on Monday rather than tack another day on at the end of the year.

Possibly. But the ones who wouldn't shouldn't be forced to take leave when other teachers get days off. This is why there is a union. To try to create balance and equity for the entire workforce regardless of where they work. And before you say, "then let those teachers not use their leave balance" you don't understand how labor contracts and employment policies actually work. It would create massive loopholes that would be exploited

They wouldn't have needed to take leave. They could have worked.

What about the teachers who couldn't make it to the school that decided to open?

Find alternative transportation of you're unwilling or unable to drive yourself. Ubers were out.

What do you think other people do? Most people don't get snow days.

Maybe most people should work in a field that has the benefit of union labor. Unions are beneficial for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We personally couldn’t have done a two hour delay, not every neighborhood was plowed immediately. Trucks didn’t come by my street until well into the afternoon. I live at the top of a hill and cars at the bottom couldn’t drive up. One car got stuck and had to turn around. Unless the county invests in better snow clean up, I don’t see how we could have gotten to school even with a delay yesterday. I live in down county too.

The snow amount was small enough that cars definitely could have driven through it. If you were getting stuck then you need new tires.

So you observed and drove through the entire county to make this determination or did you just look outside your privileged window?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is my imagination or did we go to school in snow back in the 80s and 90s?

There are kind of a couple of things things with it.

When I was younger I remember hearing we got some new superintendent who came from Buffalo and they were never going to close schools for snow. And I vividly remember walking to school in the snow during that time with that in my mind. Looking it up now, it must have been either Vance or Pitt but I don't see anything in their bios about being from Buffalo or New York. So it might have been rumors but it was spreading on why we were going to school when we expected snow days back then.

Even with this past Monday, the better call would have been to see what the conditions were like that morning. I know people complain about not having time to make plans or preparations but it's going to have to be one way or the other. Should MCPS try to stay on the side of keeping schools open and try to make the call as late as possible when they know for sure a two hour delay won't work. Or should they try to account for familys that need to plan for their kids to unexpectedly be at home? One of the reasons why I say MCPS should've been more conservative with the snow day this past Monday is because they already have issues with running out of snow days and extending the calendar.

Then the sprawl didn't go so far out back then. Like back then, King Farm was literally farm land. It might've just been because I was in my own little world but we hardly went past exit 8 on 270 back then. So any potentially affected populations weren't as big back then. Now you have that whole development in Clarksburg that constantly has crowded elementary schools and redrawing of their boundaries due to it.

And to my knowledge, back then you didn't have so much bussing back then due to special programs or crazy islands or boundaries. So it wasn't as big of an effort to get kids to their schools close by.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We personally couldn’t have done a two hour delay, not every neighborhood was plowed immediately. Trucks didn’t come by my street until well into the afternoon. I live at the top of a hill and cars at the bottom couldn’t drive up. One car got stuck and had to turn around. Unless the county invests in better snow clean up, I don’t see how we could have gotten to school even with a delay yesterday. I live in down county too.

The snow amount was small enough that cars definitely could have driven through it. If you were getting stuck then you need new tires.

So you observed and drove through the entire county to make this determination or did you just look outside your privileged window?

90% of these parents have their obnoxiously large SUVs and minivans and will be fine. God forbid anyone drive a small sedan or coupe with low clearance and no 4 wheel drive.

[Anonymous]

At the very least, they should have allowed aftercare providers to offer care. And certainly central office staff should have teleworked.

[Anonymous]

Their solution is to get the state to eliminate the day requirement. Not to fix the calendar. Not to fix how they call snow days... just make it so our kids have less school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the county allowed certain schools to make their own opening decision on snow days there would be a lot of schools who suddenly see like 60% of their teachers quit to go to other schools or districts

I'm sure there are a lot of teachers who would have preferred to brave the conditions on Monday rather than tack another day on at the end of the year.

Possibly. But the ones who wouldn't shouldn't be forced to take leave when other teachers get days off. This is why there is a union. To try to create balance and equity for the entire workforce regardless of where they work. And before you say, "then let those teachers not use their leave balance" you don't understand how labor contracts and employment policies actually work. It would create massive loopholes that would be exploited

They wouldn't have needed to take leave. They could have worked.

What about the teachers who couldn't make it to the school that decided to open?

Find alternative transportation of you're unwilling or unable to drive yourself. Ubers were out.

What do you think other people do? Most people don't get snow days.

Maybe most people should work in a field that has the benefit of union labor. Unions are beneficial for everyone.

Until Trump unilaterally terminates them. Like for my Fed agency. So your argument is useless since unions can be destroyed at the whims of the president.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At the very least, they should have allowed aftercare providers to offer care. And certainly central office staff should have teleworked.

Many of the providers probably couldn't get there. So, they cannot operate short staffed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We personally couldn’t have done a two hour delay, not every neighborhood was plowed immediately. Trucks didn’t come by my street until well into the afternoon. I live at the top of a hill and cars at the bottom couldn’t drive up. One car got stuck and had to turn around. Unless the county invests in better snow clean up, I don’t see how we could have gotten to school even with a delay yesterday. I live in down county too.

The snow amount was small enough that cars definitely could have driven through it. If you were getting stuck then you need new tires.

So you observed and drove through the entire county to make this determination or did you just look outside your privileged window?

90% of these parents have their obnoxiously large SUVs and minivans and will be fine. God forbid anyone drive a small sedan or coupe with low clearance and no 4 wheel drive.

We don't get bus as we are just in the two miles and very few sidewalks. We couldn't get out of our street with our sedan.

[Anonymous]

NYC got 20" yesterday and opened today

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NYC got 20" yesterday and opened today

That sounds miserable.

[Anonymous]

Yes, but they won't. I've been an MCPS for 15 years, and it has never changed.

[Anonymous]

Why can't we move to virtual. Even a virtual half day would be great. Nearly all of my kid's schooling is done either with a teacher teaching in front of them (could be easily done virtually) or on their laptops at their own pace (easy virtually).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the county allowed certain schools to make their own opening decision on snow days there would be a lot of schools who suddenly see like 60% of their teachers quit to go to other schools or districts

I'm sure there are a lot of teachers who would have preferred to brave the conditions on Monday rather than tack another day on at the end of the year.

Possibly. But the ones who wouldn't shouldn't be forced to take leave when other teachers get days off. This is why there is a union. To try to create balance and equity for the entire workforce regardless of where they work. And before you say, "then let those teachers not use their leave balance" you don't understand how labor contracts and employment policies actually work. It would create massive loopholes that would be exploited

They wouldn't have needed to take leave. They could have worked.

What about the teachers who couldn't make it to the school that decided to open?

Find alternative transportation of you're unwilling or unable to drive yourself. Ubers were out.

What do you think other people do? Most people don't get snow days.

Maybe most people should work in a field that has the benefit of union labor. Unions are beneficial for everyone.

Until Trump unilaterally terminates them. Like for my Fed agency. So your argument is useless since unions can be destroyed at the whims of the president.

It sounds like you are upset that your union was terminated which sounds like that actually SUPPORTS my argument that unions are beneficial.

Also, my union operates at a state level and Trump can't decide the fate of it.