School Cancelation

[Anonymous]

I just came from downtown DC to Bethesda (in an uber bc my alley is a sheet of ice and my low to ground car cannot clear it, not one car or truck has even attempted to drive down it) and the difference between DC and Montgomery County is like night and day. Connecticut and Mass Ave are one lane in each direction, Mass has a large snow pile in the middle. The only fully clear road I saw was Wisconsin. The roads around the Cathedral are not clear and the sidewalks are worse. My uber driver said most of DC is in terrible shape. So if you’re in MoCo, please realize your experience is not necessarily everyone’s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just came from downtown DC to Bethesda (in an uber bc my alley is a sheet of ice and my low to ground car cannot clear it, not one car or truck has even attempted to drive down it) and the difference between DC and Montgomery County is like night and day. Connecticut and Mass Ave are one lane in each direction, Mass has a large snow pile in the middle. The only fully clear road I saw was Wisconsin. The roads around the Cathedral are not clear and the sidewalks are worse. My uber driver said most of DC is in terrible shape. So if you’re in MoCo, please realize your experience is not necessarily everyone’s.

We drove around this morning, it is fine. The parking lot is even open. I know DMV folks are used to this. But the rest of the country thinks it is ridiculous to close the school for so many days for this amount of snow. Walking is fine, transportation is fine. Kids and teachers should be at school. If some teachers cant commute, they can give virtual lessons or skip the day. Not making it flexible is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would imagine a critical mass of students and teachers can make it to school today. It cannot be the policy that we wait for every last person to be able to make it or we are going to be waiting until the middle of next week.

To be the people that say their car is still “snowed in”, take some personal responsibility and shovel it out like the rest of us do.

What planet does your brain live on?

This was a novel storm fool. Ice is different than fluffy snow. I know these concepts are hard for your pea sized brain cells.

Today is not safe for teachers or kids to get to school.

FOCUS

So aggressive

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is obvious at this point for those people who don’t want schools to open today, they won’t want schools to open tomorrow either, or Friday, or next Monday. The small minority of people still “stuck” should just be given excused absences and let everyone else go back to learning normally.

No it isn't. The only thing that's obvious is that you didn't clear any of this ice yourself.

[Anonymous]

What does one more day matter? Don’t your kids have enough asynchronous work to keep them busy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just came from downtown DC to Bethesda (in an uber bc my alley is a sheet of ice and my low to ground car cannot clear it, not one car or truck has even attempted to drive down it) and the difference between DC and Montgomery County is like night and day. Connecticut and Mass Ave are one lane in each direction, Mass has a large snow pile in the middle. The only fully clear road I saw was Wisconsin. The roads around the Cathedral are not clear and the sidewalks are worse. My uber driver said most of DC is in terrible shape. So if you’re in MoCo, please realize your experience is not necessarily everyone’s.

We drove around this morning, it is fine. The parking lot is even open. I know DMV folks are used to this. But the rest of the country thinks it is ridiculous to close the school for so many days for this amount of snow. Walking is fine, transportation is fine. Kids and teachers should be at school. If some teachers cant commute, they can give virtual lessons or skip the day. Not making it flexible is ridiculous.

You must be in a different city bc it’s most certainly not fine around much of DC, roads and sidewalks are impassable in many areas. This is a failure on DC’s part. The schools can only do so much on their own property.

[Anonymous]

And … you might think the roads are passable enough to get from your home to campus, but the roads are not clear. Imagine putting thousands of cars on the road around the DMV of parents trying to get their kids to school and the teachers and staff too. That will be an effing nightmare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just came from downtown DC to Bethesda (in an uber bc my alley is a sheet of ice and my low to ground car cannot clear it, not one car or truck has even attempted to drive down it) and the difference between DC and Montgomery County is like night and day. Connecticut and Mass Ave are one lane in each direction, Mass has a large snow pile in the middle. The only fully clear road I saw was Wisconsin. The roads around the Cathedral are not clear and the sidewalks are worse. My uber driver said most of DC is in terrible shape. So if you’re in MoCo, please realize your experience is not necessarily everyone’s.

We drove around this morning, it is fine. The parking lot is even open. I know DMV folks are used to this. But the rest of the country thinks it is ridiculous to close the school for so many days for this amount of snow.

No, they don't, because most of the country never gets much snow. Raleigh area schools will close for a week if ice seems likely, even if it never materializes. CA Bay Area schools close for unusually heavy rain. Weather closures are specific to the region and what that region is used to.

If you look at areas that do get a lot of snow (NE and Midwest, which is not most of the country) they don't close because they have public services appropriate to their climate. Snow gets cleared, sidewalks get shoveled (often by city workers), cars and bus shelters are chosen for snow, etc. But even NYC and Boston have been snowed over and closed in historic storms, within recent memory.

[Anonymous]

It has been 3 days. Seriously, what is the big deal. Just think of it as a long weekend and move on with your life. If you are a parent that has to work, then work and get a babysitter. This is what you signed up for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shoveling it out - of course we shoveled our car out. However, my street still hasn't been plowed. So you too assume everyone has an SUV. Regardless of what the carpool looks like, not everyone has an SUV. Driving on unplowed roads is not safe for anyone. Ignorant to think people can make it in. Go walk around and see. Not everyone has a heated driveway.

I don’t have an SUV or a heated driveway. Or even a driveway at all. I have driven around plenty. People in DC who can’t “make it in” are just too lazy to shovel out their car. Quit it with the class warfare remarks and stop waiting on the DC government to come save you/plow you out. Time to take some personal responsibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would imagine a critical mass of students and teachers can make it to school today. It cannot be the policy that we wait for every last person to be able to make it or we are going to be waiting until the middle of next week.

To be the people that say their car is still “snowed in”, take some personal responsibility and shovel it out like the rest of us do.

What planet does your brain live on?

This was a novel storm fool. Ice is different than fluffy snow. I know these concepts are hard for your pea sized brain cells.

Today is not safe for teachers or kids to get to school.

FOCUS

I’ll ignore your overly aggressive comments to ask the following:

Why are almost all other in person businesses open no problem (and have been since Sunday!)?

Who are all the people I see driving on the roads? Surely some of them must be students or teachers?

What conditions would be acceptable to you to return to school? Because another day of this level of cold and incompetent plowing will not improve things. If you are waiting for a full melt it looks like end of next week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would imagine a critical mass of students and teachers can make it to school today. It cannot be the policy that we wait for every last person to be able to make it or we are going to be waiting until the middle of next week.

To be the people that say their car is still “snowed in”, take some personal responsibility and shovel it out like the rest of us do.

What planet does your brain live on?

This was a novel storm fool. Ice is different than fluffy snow. I know these concepts are hard for your pea sized brain cells.

Today is not safe for teachers or kids to get to school.

FOCUS

I’ll ignore your overly aggressive comments to ask the following:

Why are almost all other in person businesses open no problem (and have been since Sunday!)?

Who are all the people I see driving on the roads? Surely some of them must be students or teachers?

What conditions would be acceptable to you to return to school? Because another day of this level of cold and incompetent plowing will not improve things. If you are waiting for a full melt it looks like end of next week.

DP here - the problem is buses. Schools are not going to reopen if they think the buses will not be able to run their routes. It doesn't matter if the teachers and some of the kids can get there in a snowmobile or a tank.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just came from downtown DC to Bethesda (in an uber bc my alley is a sheet of ice and my low to ground car cannot clear it, not one car or truck has even attempted to drive down it) and the difference between DC and Montgomery County is like night and day. Connecticut and Mass Ave are one lane in each direction, Mass has a large snow pile in the middle. The only fully clear road I saw was Wisconsin. The roads around the Cathedral are not clear and the sidewalks are worse. My uber driver said most of DC is in terrible shape. So if you’re in MoCo, please realize your experience is not necessarily everyone’s.

We drove around this morning, it is fine. The parking lot is even open. I know DMV folks are used to this. But the rest of the country thinks it is ridiculous to close the school for so many days for this amount of snow.

No, they don't, because most of the country never gets much snow. Raleigh area schools will close for a week if ice seems likely, even if it never materializes. CA Bay Area schools close for unusually heavy rain. Weather closures are specific to the region and what that region is used to.

If you look at areas that do get a lot of snow (NE and Midwest, which is not most of the country) they don't close because they have public services appropriate to their climate. Snow gets cleared, sidewalks get shoveled (often by city workers), cars and bus shelters are chosen for snow, etc. But even NYC and Boston have been snowed over and closed in historic storms, within recent memory.

+1. The main problem with the DMV is that we don't get enough consistent big snowfalls like NYC or Boston to justify spending millions of dollars to have the personnel and equipment ready to handle a storm. When we do get a big storm, we don't have the resources to respond the way that more northerly cities do.

[Anonymous]

So.... likelihood of reopening Thursday?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shoveling it out - of course we shoveled our car out. However, my street still hasn't been plowed. So you too assume everyone has an SUV. Regardless of what the carpool looks like, not everyone has an SUV. Driving on unplowed roads is not safe for anyone. Ignorant to think people can make it in. Go walk around and see. Not everyone has a heated driveway.

I am sick of this don’t have an suv plea. How do you think people got around on the winter before there were big suvs? I’m from the Midwest and things didn’t grind to a halt 30 years ago when no SUVs. You clear your own car and learn to drive in the snow. I’m also sick of people saying we don’t have the snow equipment here. Do you think all of these little towns in the Midwest always had plows? No and many still don’t. People just take more responsibility and clear their own driveways and around their cars.