What was fcps thinking

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's going to be a high of 26 today. If we delayed / closed school for that, they'd miss a ton of days!

That's exactly what they did a few years back in order to justify applying for the early-start wavier. (FCPS needed to miss a certain amount of days for consecutive years to apply for the waiver.) People thought cancelling school for "cold" was normal and now expect it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's going to be a high of 26 today. If we delayed / closed school for that, they'd miss a ton of days!

That's exactly what they did a few years back in order to justify applying for the early-start wavier. (FCPS needed to miss a certain amount of days for consecutive years to apply for the waiver.) People thought cancelling school for "cold" was normal and now expect it.

PP here - my oldest is in 3rd grade. I have vague memories of school being canceled for cold in 2014-2015 and/or 2015-2016, but IIRC it was colder, with highs in the single digits. (??)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did they go in to start the buses yesterday? In another thread someone mentioned Loudoun County checking on their bus fleet.

They did.

[Anonymous]

Schools closed in Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and other places today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First of all it's complete, utter bullshit to expect parents to drive their kids to school when the school system provides bus service. Either they do or they don't, but the whole it's your fault for not driving them is crap. FCPS can decide how to manage its services, but it's not right to just excuse this cluster and blame parents for relying on a service (reliable bus service for qualified students) they were told existed.

Honestly, what should have happened is a two hour delay to allow temps to rise a bit and to work out the mechanical issues. And they should have announced it last night to give parents time to make arrangements, etc.

+1000

I intend to email the FCPS superintendent to express my utter dismay at their incomprehensible decision today. A 2-hour delay would have solved most of the issues our kids faced this morning...

How? It rose 2’ degrees here from 13’ to 15’. Same problems, just delayed. Better to get it over with earlier so that they have more time in school.

A two hour delay wouldn’t fix the weather or the temperature, but it would allow the buses to get ready (warm up the engines, check for breakdowns, missing drivers etc.) while giving parents and students a specific time to be at the bus stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My ds takes an FCPS bus to a special ed school that shares a bus stop and pickup time with another middle school. There was a poor kid standing out there in just a sweatshirt 30 minutes after the normal pick up time!

Is he a dumbass or is his family too poor to buy him a coat?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's going to be a high of 26 today. If we delayed / closed school for that, they'd miss a ton of days!

That's exactly what they did a few years back in order to justify applying for the early-start wavier. (FCPS needed to miss a certain amount of days for consecutive years to apply for the waiver.) People thought cancelling school for "cold" was normal and now expect it.

PP here - my oldest is in 3rd grade. I have vague memories of school being canceled for cold in 2014-2015 and/or 2015-2016, but IIRC it was colder, with highs in the single digits. (??)

It was 2015-2016 and school was cancelled when it was in the high teens. It was a plot to qualify for the waiver. And it worked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First of all it's complete, utter bullshit to expect parents to drive their kids to school when the school system provides bus service. Either they do or they don't, but the whole it's your fault for not driving them is crap. FCPS can decide how to manage its services, but it's not right to just excuse this cluster and blame parents for relying on a service (reliable bus service for qualified students) they were told existed.

Honestly, what should have happened is a two hour delay to allow temps to rise a bit and to work out the mechanical issues. And they should have announced it last night to give parents time to make arrangements, etc.

+1000

I intend to email the FCPS superintendent to express my utter dismay at their incomprehensible decision today. A 2-hour delay would have solved most of the issues our kids faced this morning...

How? It rose 2’ degrees here from 13’ to 15’. Same problems, just delayed. Better to get it over with earlier so that they have more time in school.

A two hour delay wouldn’t fix the weather or the temperature, but it would allow the buses to get ready (warm up the engines, check for breakdowns, missing drivers etc.) while giving parents and students a specific time to be at the bus stop.

Why not have the bus drivers go in two hours early?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First of all it's complete, utter bullshit to expect parents to drive their kids to school when the school system provides bus service. Either they do or they don't, but the whole it's your fault for not driving them is crap. FCPS can decide how to manage its services, but it's not right to just excuse this cluster and blame parents for relying on a service (reliable bus service for qualified students) they were told existed.

Honestly, what should have happened is a two hour delay to allow temps to rise a bit and to work out the mechanical issues. And they should have announced it last night to give parents time to make arrangements, etc.

+1000

I intend to email the FCPS superintendent to express my utter dismay at their incomprehensible decision today. A 2-hour delay would have solved most of the issues our kids faced this morning...

How? It rose 2’ degrees here from 13’ to 15’. Same problems, just delayed. Better to get it over with earlier so that they have more time in school.

A two hour delay wouldn’t fix the weather or the temperature, but it would allow the buses to get ready (warm up the engines, check for breakdowns, missing drivers etc.) while giving parents and students a specific time to be at the bus stop.

Why not have the bus drivers go in two hours early?

They did.

[Anonymous]

One of my kids is a walker (up to a mike and you walk fir HS), should I be complaining that DC had to walk today? Get real! Stop bitchin. Toughen up or your may melt since you really are a snowflake.

I would rather have my kid walking for 10 minutes in this cold than standing still at a bus stop for 30 minutes for a bus that may or may not ever come. With no snow on the horizon and a ridiculous number of snow days built in, I think they could manage two-hour delays on days where a good chunk of the bus fleet is likely to fail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did they go in to start the buses yesterday? In another thread someone mentioned Loudoun County checking on their bus fleet.

They did.

My husband goes to work around 5:30 AM. He said they were warming up the busses outside our neighborhood elementary when he drove by this morning at that time.

When my high schooler left for the bus stop he checked the bus site. We only had one of our .middle school busses listed as delayed and none of our elementary busses.

So they at least warmed up some of the busses this morning at least an hour before the routes start.

[Anonymous]

Falls Church City doesn't go back until tomorrow. I guarantee the transportation dept will be making sure the buses work today.

On the other hand, FCC didn't get the week before Xmas off.

On the other hand, FCC didn't go back until after Labor Day.

[Anonymous]

In related news, Bolt bus had a full schedule today. It appears it's quite possible to start and drive buses when you don't get paid if they don't start.

[Anonymous]

They are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

If they had delayed, everyone would have been on here complaining about how they delayed the opening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

One of my kids is a walker (up to a mike and you walk fir HS), should I be complaining that DC had to walk today? Get real! Stop bitchin. Toughen up or your may melt since you really are a snowflake.

I would rather have my kid walking for 10 minutes in this cold than standing still at a bus stop for 30 minutes for a bus that may or may not ever come. With no snow on the horizon and a ridiculous number of snow days built in, I think they could manage two-hour delays on days where a good chunk of the bus fleet is likely to fail.

You must be a real athlete if 1 mile of walking is only 10 minutes. Regardless, Point is prepare your kids for reality. A late bus on a cold day is reality. A 1 mike hike on a cold day is another reality.