snow on friday

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does DCPS have to be such a pain about this
Is it the Mayor who decides this? I don’t want to wake up at 5am to check if schools are closed or delayed

As of now, there is no delay, so there’s nothing to announce. The whole idea that they’re delaying school over a few snow showers is insane.

Some people still don’t understand that ice and temperature are a problem. Look at the weather app, theres a special weather statement.

DC has plenty of salt for the roads. Most kids come on foot, next most common mechanism is public transpiration. This is primarily a teacher issue, and I get that, but ultimately it should be based on the conditions at the location of the school with flexible leave policies for teachers coming from a county that declares an issue.

How can a school have "flexible leave policies" for teachers? What happens if all your students are there but only half the teachers show?

By flexible leave, I just mean that no warning leave is permitted for teachers living in affected counties. And you combine classes, cancel planning periods, etc and play the required admin pay under the WTU agreement for doing so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does DCPS have to be such a pain about this
Is it the Mayor who decides this? I don’t want to wake up at 5am to check if schools are closed or delayed

As of now, there is no delay, so there’s nothing to announce. The whole idea that they’re delaying school over a few snow showers is insane.

Some people still don’t understand that ice and temperature are a problem. Look at the weather app, theres a special weather statement.

DC has plenty of salt for the roads. Most kids come on foot, next most common mechanism is public transpiration. This is primarily a teacher issue, and I get that, but ultimately it should be based on the conditions at the location of the school with flexible leave policies for teachers coming from a county that declares an issue.

How can a school have "flexible leave policies" for teachers? What happens if all your students are there but only half the teachers show?

By flexible leave, I just mean that no warning leave is permitted for teachers living in affected counties. And you combine classes, cancel planning periods, etc and play the required admin pay under the WTU agreement for doing so.

That plan would mayyyybe work for elementary.

For middle and high school, you want to have a bunch of bored teens sitting in the auditorium all day with insufficient adult coverage?

[Anonymous]

I’m confused how there’s no delay today?! It’s supposed to snow until 11am and it’s below freezing. DCPS needs to step up

[Anonymous]

Military was rough in spots.

[Anonymous]

No delay… coming down now!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No delay… coming down now!

(No school delay….snow really coming down now!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No delay… coming down now!

(No school delay….snow really coming down now!)

The snow that is “really coming down” is the least dangerous type of snow - HUGE flakes that melt immediately. It’s just about to die out. This was a nothing and DCPS made the right call

[Anonymous]

Dcps got it right. Making other jurisdictions look foolish

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does DCPS have to be such a pain about this
Is it the Mayor who decides this? I don’t want to wake up at 5am to check if schools are closed or delayed

As of now, there is no delay, so there’s nothing to announce. The whole idea that they’re delaying school over a few snow showers is insane.

Some people still don’t understand that ice and temperature are a problem. Look at the weather app, theres a special weather statement.

DC has plenty of salt for the roads. Most kids come on foot, next most common mechanism is public transpiration. This is primarily a teacher issue, and I get that, but ultimately it should be based on the conditions at the location of the school with flexible leave policies for teachers coming from a county that declares an issue.

How can a school have "flexible leave policies" for teachers? What happens if all your students are there but only half the teachers show?

By flexible leave, I just mean that no warning leave is permitted for teachers living in affected counties. And you combine classes, cancel planning periods, etc and play the required admin pay under the WTU agreement for doing so.

That plan would mayyyybe work for elementary.

For middle and high school, you want to have a bunch of bored teens sitting in the auditorium all day with insufficient adult coverage?

+1 there is a point at which it becomes dangerous for both students and teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dcps got it right. Making other jurisdictions look foolish

They probably did get it right because of the timing of the storm -- had the snow started earlier, in the night, there would be icy conditions now and it would be a mess. Because snow started later, it's not particularly icy now, but if they had done a 2 hour delay, the school commute would likely have started during the melt and it would have been a slushy mess.

One of the advantages of waiting until the last possible minute to announce, if you are going to announce, is that you can account for that level of nuance. Whereas the districts that close or announce delays the night before might have to live with bad decisions that it's too late to draw back. Perhaps remember that the next time you are complaining about DCPS waiting until 5am to announce.

[Anonymous]

Look at the mcps chat on dcum

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No delay… coming down now!

(No school delay….snow really coming down now!)

The snow that is “really coming down” is the least dangerous type of snow - HUGE flakes that melt immediately. It’s just about to die out. This was a nothing and DCPS made the right call

I agree, I’m the PP. Commuting time was safe. Delaying would have actually been worse because it will get slick in an hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at the mcps chat on dcum

MCPS was idiotic because they did a 2 hour delay earlier in the week for what wound up being some light rain, and then didn't do a delay today which led to people commuting to schools on roads that had not yet been treated (why weren't they treated overnight in anticipation??).

Very dumb, but also reflects the way that this call is different in a suburban district where most students are driven by parents or ride school buses significant distances. DCPS certainly has families that drive to school, but on heavily treated urban roads that benefit from heat island effect most of the time. MoCo is massive and can't afford to pre-treat the entire county for a storm like this, and people have to drive much further. It's just a very different decision.

Another thing to keep in mind when people are complaining "everyone around us is closed or delayed, why is DCPS open?" Because DCPS has different factors to consider and the school commute looks really different in the city than it does in places like Rockville or Vienna.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at the mcps chat on dcum

MCPS was idiotic because they did a 2 hour delay earlier in the week for what wound up being some light rain, and then didn't do a delay today which led to people commuting to schools on roads that had not yet been treated (why weren't they treated overnight in anticipation??).

Very dumb, but also reflects the way that this call is different in a suburban district where most students are driven by parents or ride school buses significant distances. DCPS certainly has families that drive to school, but on heavily treated urban roads that benefit from heat island effect most of the time. MoCo is massive and can't afford to pre-treat the entire county for a storm like this, and people have to drive much further. It's just a very different decision.

Another thing to keep in mind when people are complaining "everyone around us is closed or delayed, why is DCPS open?" Because DCPS has different factors to consider and the school commute looks really different in the city than it does in places like Rockville or Vienna.

Moco is just way too geographically large. They can’t effectively administrate it. Snow policies are the least of their problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No delay… coming down now!

(No school delay….snow really coming down now!)

The snow that is “really coming down” is the least dangerous type of snow - HUGE flakes that melt immediately. It’s just about to die out. This was a nothing and DCPS made the right call

Yep. The ground is warm, so everything is melting as soon as it hits the roads and sidewalks. Just as I posted in this thread yesterday before all the hysterics began.