What do we think will happen on Monday?

[Anonymous]

NBC 4 is not hopeful for schools opening:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DULJ5d4kTqr/?igsh=aDZsdHZzNG00a3c2

[Anonymous]

I don’t have to explain our street because I’m sure the entire county is filled with with bad streets. Our street has a giant mount of ice and only one lane can go at a time. Cars are still off the street. I’m not sure a bus could turn with the ice piles.

Like I posted, I can drive my kids to school no problem. They would not be walking to the bus stop in these conditions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I am from a midwest state that gets this kind of ice storm nearly every year, sometimes twice.

We havs a lot of rednecks with pick up trucks who live for these storms.

They go out as volunteers and clear just about all the back roads in a couple of days.

People here are thinkiers, not doers, and other than the neighborhoods with lots of military and red state transplants, they cannot seem to accomplish much of anything that requires grit, hard work and ingenuity.

People are lazy and soft here.

And where's your gratitude for the "thinker's" contributions to society? My husband is a research scientist working on cancer. You don't want to benefit from the newest cancer treatments, PP?

To be fair, he also chopped wood and shoveled for this storm. But it's perfectly fine if a "thinker" has no manual skills. Everyone contributes in their own way.

Shame on you for saying that cerebral people are soft and lazy. Maybe you're soft and lazy in the brain department, hmm?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone should relax. We got an email from our principal (high school) explaining the plan for parking and arriving on Monday and throughout the week. They are planning to go ahead as long as nothing changes and making necessary adjustments. It will all be fine.

How is your school handling parking?

Hundreds of our high schoolers park on neighborhood streets that are now ice mounds.

Then they should take the bus.

Problem solve. Figure it out. Drop them or don’t. Arrange a carpool or don’t. Put them on a bus or don’t. Or don’t do anything at all and let your kid sit home until the ice mounds melt.

The high school busses are already over capacity.

Fcps does not have enough busses to drive these studdnts who normally drive themselves.

1. Kids must first get to the bus stop and have a place to stand. My guess is that half will not be standable. Many Fairfax areas do not have sidewalks.
2. Buses must start. Electric buses? Have you read the posts online about electric cars and this storm?

I've seen lots of praises for the road clearing in Fairfax County. Much of my neighborhood is great--but not ,my street.

If there are issues with buses starting it will be with diesel fuel gelling before electric buses have an issue.

FWIW, I haven’t seen posts online about electric vehicles having difficulty starting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been teaching almost 30 years and I’ve never seen an ice storm like this. I can get to school if we open but I won’t be able to drive my kids, since their school is in the opposite direction of my school. They are teens, it’s okay, they can get assignments on Schoology and make up the work until it’s safe for them to walk to the bus stop. Our street is plowed as a single lane and the sidewalks are not clear. There is no way they can walk to the bus stop, it’s far. Hopefully it’s not too long until it melts enough. I don’t think a bus can even get down our road yet.

Seriously what is up with the streets being plowed as a single lane. That’s how it is in our area too. Who had the bright idea to send a plow truck but just plow enough to make a single lane? And they did this on Sunday when the snow had not hardened to ice yet. Why couldn’t they plow wide enough to make sure the road had enough clearance? This is all on VDOT.

Do you want to pay the taxes to have VDOT equipped to handle storms that happen once every 20 years?

I am from a midwest state that gets this kind of ice storm nearly every year, sometimes twice.

We havs a lot of rednecks with pick up trucks who live for these storms.

They go out as volunteers and clear just about all the back roads in a couple of days.

People here are thinkiers, not doers, and other than the neighborhoods with lots of military and red state transplants, they cannot seem to accomplish much of anything that requires grit, hard work and ingenuity.

People are lazy and soft here.

I’m thinking maybe you need to move back to the Midwest if we’re all too soft and lazy for you.

Just making an honest observation.

It is the same reason why contractors can charge you all so much.

For this area, contractors charge a lot less than ten years of ownership for a pick up truck with a plow, including insurance amd maintenance.

In a different area, the calculus is different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been teaching almost 30 years and I’ve never seen an ice storm like this. I can get to school if we open but I won’t be able to drive my kids, since their school is in the opposite direction of my school. They are teens, it’s okay, they can get assignments on Schoology and make up the work until it’s safe for them to walk to the bus stop. Our street is plowed as a single lane and the sidewalks are not clear. There is no way they can walk to the bus stop, it’s far. Hopefully it’s not too long until it melts enough. I don’t think a bus can even get down our road yet.

Seriously what is up with the streets being plowed as a single lane. That’s how it is in our area too. Who had the bright idea to send a plow truck but just plow enough to make a single lane? And they did this on Sunday when the snow had not hardened to ice yet. Why couldn’t they plow wide enough to make sure the road had enough clearance? This is all on VDOT.

Do you want to pay the taxes to have VDOT equipped to handle storms that happen once every 20 years?

I am from a midwest state that gets this kind of ice storm nearly every year, sometimes twice.

We havs a lot of rednecks with pick up trucks who live for these storms.

They go out as volunteers and clear just about all the back roads in a couple of days.

People here are thinkiers, not doers, and other than the neighborhoods with lots of military and red state transplants, they cannot seem to accomplish much of anything that requires grit, hard work and ingenuity.

People are lazy and soft here.

I’m thinking maybe you need to move back to the Midwest if we’re all too soft and lazy for you.

Just making an honest observation.

It is the same reason why contractors can charge you all so much.

No, you’re being judgmental, and it’s not helpful at all. Just rude and condescending. Have a super day.

I tend to agree with the PP. The helpless whining how will Junior get to school is nuts and waiting for someone or something else to save the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NBC 4 is not hopeful for schools opening:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DULJ5d4kTqr/?igsh=aDZsdHZzNG00a3c2

Why in the world did I watch this but I did.

This is your smoking gun schools will be closed next week?

[Anonymous]

“Every man for himself” is pretty much the opposite of FCPS’s philosophy, so while I don’t disagree with those who are saying “toughen up and adapt,” I wouldn’t bet big money on gatehouse following that strategy. Reid is a different superintendent, so one might conjecture that she could guide the ship on a very different path, but the email she sent yesterday didn’t suggest she was doing that.

Personally, I hate this uncertainty. It’s making me very anxious.

[Anonymous]

I am soft and I don’t care if you are using that as an insult. I grew up in an area like the PP describes and I am very glad to have moved to the “thinking” area of the world. The way people treat and speak their kids in those areas under the guise of developing “grit and hard work” is awful.
My “thinking” teenager helped me do our side walk and the elderly neighbor next door, but I’m not expecting any single to do most of our retired neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“Every man for himself” is pretty much the opposite of FCPS’s philosophy, so while I don’t disagree with those who are saying “toughen up and adapt,” I wouldn’t bet big money on gatehouse following that strategy. Reid is a different superintendent, so one might conjecture that she could guide the ship on a very different path, but the email she sent yesterday didn’t suggest she was doing that.

Personally, I hate this uncertainty. It’s making me very anxious.

Guys: it’s school. It’s a foundational pillar of society. OF COURSE its ethos is not “every man for himself,” that literally defies the spirit of an institution that serves the public, particularly the most vulnerable members of the public (children).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NBC 4 is not hopeful for schools opening:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DULJ5d4kTqr/?igsh=aDZsdHZzNG00a3c2

Why in the world did I watch this but I did.

This is your smoking gun schools will be closed next week?

Yeah she sounds like all of us posting here - at the end of the day we have no clue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am soft and I don’t care if you are using that as an insult. I grew up in an area like the PP describes and I am very glad to have moved to the “thinking” area of the world. The way people treat and speak their kids in those areas under the guise of developing “grit and hard work” is awful.
My “thinking” teenager helped me do our side walk and the elderly neighbor next door, but I’m not expecting any single to do most of our retired neighborhood.

Well, as a teacher, I’m very much pro-thinking!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been teaching almost 30 years and I’ve never seen an ice storm like this. I can get to school if we open but I won’t be able to drive my kids, since their school is in the opposite direction of my school. They are teens, it’s okay, they can get assignments on Schoology and make up the work until it’s safe for them to walk to the bus stop. Our street is plowed as a single lane and the sidewalks are not clear. There is no way they can walk to the bus stop, it’s far. Hopefully it’s not too long until it melts enough. I don’t think a bus can even get down our road yet.

Seriously what is up with the streets being plowed as a single lane. That’s how it is in our area too. Who had the bright idea to send a plow truck but just plow enough to make a single lane? And they did this on Sunday when the snow had not hardened to ice yet. Why couldn’t they plow wide enough to make sure the road had enough clearance? This is all on VDOT.

Do you want to pay the taxes to have VDOT equipped to handle storms that happen once every 20 years?

I am from a midwest state that gets this kind of ice storm nearly every year, sometimes twice.

We havs a lot of rednecks with pick up trucks who live for these storms.

They go out as volunteers and clear just about all the back roads in a couple of days.

People here are thinkiers, not doers, and other than the neighborhoods with lots of military and red state transplants, they cannot seem to accomplish much of anything that requires grit, hard work and ingenuity.

People are lazy and soft here.

I’m not a laborer. DH shoveled our driveway and has gone to work all week. He is a surgeon.

The streets are ice. I can drive my kids to school. We have that luxury. Not everyone can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Every man for himself” is pretty much the opposite of FCPS’s philosophy, so while I don’t disagree with those who are saying “toughen up and adapt,” I wouldn’t bet big money on gatehouse following that strategy. Reid is a different superintendent, so one might conjecture that she could guide the ship on a very different path, but the email she sent yesterday didn’t suggest she was doing that.

Personally, I hate this uncertainty. It’s making me very anxious.

Guys: it’s school. It’s a foundational pillar of society. OF COURSE its ethos is not “every man for himself,” that literally defies the spirit of an institution that serves the public, particularly the most vulnerable members of the public (children).

The reason DCPS went back Thursday is lots of kids sitting home unsupervised without free meals. No one is talking about that here but they think about that as well when making a decision. They have to. Not everyone is nestled in mom’s bosom drinking hot chocolate.

[Anonymous]

My niece and nephew go to DCPS which opened Thursday/Friday and it was a hot mess. No learning was done because half of their class couldn’t even make it to school. I agree the kids need to get back in school so parents can return to work, but let’s not pretend this is about their education…