What do we think will happen on Monday?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just got an email from our school:

“To help reduce congestion, school doors will open at 7:15 a.m. this week instead of 7:30 a.m. If there is a 2-hour delay, we will open at 9:15 a.m.”

There were police blocking a major intersection near our house tonight to allow bulldozers to fully clear lanes that were only partially clear.

I see no scenario where schools are closed Monday.

They need to scrap the metal detectors until the weather warms above the teens.

High school students should not be standing outside in long lines during this weather.

That’s the least of what they should do.

[Anonymous]

No other institution is still closed, despite relying on walking and public transportation. Hospitals are open and many staff use the bus. County (and federal) government is open, every store is open. Schools seem to be the only public service which is considered optional.

Yes, this means some people won’t make it into school. And that’s OK, their absences should be excused. The parents should be doing whatever it is they do to get themselves to work— wait with their kids at the bus stop, driving them to school, whatever. And yes that means shoveling their sidewalks (it astonishes me this is not already in law)

[Anonymous]

I can't see how this area will handle normal rush hour if school isnt 2 hr late. That will at least stagger traffic.

There are turn lanes still non existant, sidewalks @ ntersections piled high with snow, and not to mention some lanes are technically clear, but are super narrow as if those distracted drivers that veer into your lane isnt bad enough on a good day; it'll be even worse when they cross the line bc theres just no room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No other institution is still closed, despite relying on walking and public transportation. Hospitals are open and many staff use the bus. County (and federal) government is open, every store is open. Schools seem to be the only public service which is considered optional.

Yes, this means some people won’t make it into school. And that’s OK, their absences should be excused. The parents should be doing whatever it is they do to get themselves to work— wait with their kids at the bus stop, driving them to school, whatever. And yes that means shoveling their sidewalks (it astonishes me this is not already in law)

It seems simple, but it’s not. School is different than other government institutions for a variety of reasons, most of which have been articulated in this thread.

[Anonymous]

-We shoveled for hours on Sunday but the sleet just kept coming. I've been able to chip away at my deck for the dog but that's also because it gets a lot of sun.
If sidewalks/bus stops aren't getting much sun, then they're screwed.
The ice is thick and it's slippery. It's actually unsafe for kids to be walking on it.

I get why Reid asked for help (although it'd be nice if she and her bodyguards helped) but while this ice is unprecedented, schools have been closed for longer than a week in the past. The ice will be a lot easier to chip away at once the temperatures climb but it's certainly not going to happen tomorrow.

The other big question is whether or not OPM will allow unscheduled telework for parents to continue to be able to work from home if the kids are off. A luxury that we did not have during Snowmaggedon.

[Anonymous]

I would be shocked if school is closed, but I think a two hour delay may be reasonable. My guess is that they are going to rip off the bandaid and just accept that kids will be very late and delayed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At what point do they begin adding days at the end of the school year? I know we have more built into the calendar than MCPS but I don’t know the specifics.


I’d love this to be something future decision makers consider when they insist on calendars with an embarrassingly low number of five day weeks.

FCPS,needs to start cancelling all the cultural holidays stuck into the calendar, before adding days to late June.

Better to ask the teachers to do their planning/training remotely in this week, then remove the planning days.

+1

You do realize the planning days are placed for grading at the end of quarters. Work students haven’t completed can’t be graded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No other institution is still closed, despite relying on walking and public transportation. Hospitals are open and many staff use the bus. County (and federal) government is open, every store is open. Schools seem to be the only public service which is considered optional.

Yes, this means some people won’t make it into school. And that’s OK, their absences should be excused. The parents should be doing whatever it is they do to get themselves to work— wait with their kids at the bus stop, driving them to school, whatever. And yes that means shoveling their sidewalks (it astonishes me this is not already in law)

It seems simple, but it’s not. School is different than other government institutions for a variety of reasons, most of which have been articulated in this thread.

They have been articulated but they are for the most part just excuses. If you didn’t clear your snow a week ago and are screaming now that the sidewalk isn’t cleared…well… my teachers always told us poor planning on our part isn’t an emergency on theirs. School had a week to do the job of opening. Parents had a week to do the job of figuring out how to get to school. There is nothing more special about a school than a hospital and nothing more dangerous about the roads to a schoolbus than a Metrobus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would be shocked if school is closed, but I think a two hour delay may be reasonable. My guess is that they are going to rip off the bandaid and just accept that kids will be very late and delayed.

Then what is the point of scheduling 10 snow days into the calendar? We have only used 2 and a half of them.

I’d be shocked if school opens, but I’m thinking about the bus stops which are mountains of ice and of the kids that rely on school busses to get to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At what point do they begin adding days at the end of the school year? I know we have more built into the calendar than MCPS but I don’t know the specifics.


I’d love this to be something future decision makers consider when they insist on calendars with an embarrassingly low number of five day weeks.

FCPS,needs to start cancelling all the cultural holidays stuck into the calendar, before adding days to late June.

Better to ask the teachers to do their planning/training remotely in this week, then remove the planning days.

+1

You do realize the planning days are placed for grading at the end of quarters. Work students haven’t completed can’t be graded.

Training can be accomplished now and not all planning is grading as teachers stress on this forum all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At what point do they begin adding days at the end of the school year? I know we have more built into the calendar than MCPS but I don’t know the specifics.


I’d love this to be something future decision makers consider when they insist on calendars with an embarrassingly low number of five day weeks.

FCPS,needs to start cancelling all the cultural holidays stuck into the calendar, before adding days to late June.

Better to ask the teachers to do their planning/training remotely in this week, then remove the planning days.

+1

You do realize the planning days are placed for grading at the end of quarters. Work students haven’t completed can’t be graded.

Training can be accomplished now and not all planning is grading as teachers stress on this forum all the time.

Progress reports take many hours at the end of the quarter. Sorry-I need those days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No other institution is still closed, despite relying on walking and public transportation. Hospitals are open and many staff use the bus. County (and federal) government is open, every store is open. Schools seem to be the only public service which is considered optional.

Yes, this means some people won’t make it into school. And that’s OK, their absences should be excused. The parents should be doing whatever it is they do to get themselves to work— wait with their kids at the bus stop, driving them to school, whatever. And yes that means shoveling their sidewalks (it astonishes me this is not already in law)

It seems simple, but it’s not. School is different than other government institutions for a variety of reasons, most of which have been articulated in this thread.

They have been articulated but they are for the most part just excuses. If you didn’t clear your snow a week ago and are screaming now that the sidewalk isn’t cleared…well… my teachers always told us poor planning on our part isn’t an emergency on theirs. School had a week to do the job of opening. Parents had a week to do the job of figuring out how to get to school. There is nothing more special about a school than a hospital and nothing more dangerous about the roads to a schoolbus than a Metrobus.

I’m not trying to make an argument for what FCPS should or shouldn’t do. Personally, I’m prepared to go to school or to stay home; what I hate is the uncertainty and waiting on a decision to be made. That’s why I am trying (unsuccessfully) to anticipate that decision, predict how the people at Gatehouse think, and consider what factors they will examine to determine school opening or closing. In the past, they’ve followed the precept that if a certain percentage of students don’t have the ability to safely go to school, then no one can go to school.

You may be right and I’m overthinking it, but we won’t know for sure until the fat lady sings.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone thinking Reid was threatening us? Our community was out working hard today!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would be shocked if school is closed, but I think a two hour delay may be reasonable. My guess is that they are going to rip off the bandaid and just accept that kids will be very late and delayed.

School will be closed on Monday. I've spoken so no more discussion needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s hilarious FCPS is asking the community to essentially provide free labor to shovel sidewalks and bus stops. WTF are our tax dollars going to? That will be a no from me.

Are you serious? "Free labor"?

Shoveling sidewalks has ALWAYS been the responsibility of the community, not of VDOT, FCPS, or Fairfax County. ALWAYS.

You are a complete jerk if you seriously have the attitude "that will be a no from me." How selfish and self-serving you are!

Go out and shovel even just 20 feet of sidewalk. If every able-bodied person would shovel 20 feet of sidewalks, we could make them safe for all pedestrians, including for school children.

+1
After the Snowmaggen storm, FCPS asked families to do the same thing.

It is completely within the realm of reason for the school district to ask people who live in the neighborhoods to pitch in and shovel and clear the sidewalks and bus stops so the kids of that neighborhood can go to school. You live there. That is your home. Shoveling it is within your sphere of responsibility. It is borderline sociopathic to think this is an unreasonable ask. Some of you NEED to start viewing yourself as part of your community vs some isolated island whose only responsibility is to yourselves.

We don’t live in a neighborhood. Do you expect residents to clear public roads too? Because in our case, VDOT plowed and left a 6-foot pile of ice exactly where the bus stop is. That’s not something I can reasonably or safely fix with my shovel.

If 10 of you and your neighbors got out there with shovels and such, yes you could address that bus stop. It’s on a public road you don’t think is your problem ? Well your kid needs to use it to get to school. So it kind of is your problem. Or you can stand on principle and make the county handle it and let your kid miss more school than necessary.

You realize the vast majority of the population doesn't have kids in the home at any given point in time and schools being open or closed is not even on their radar, right?

Not to mention the fact that a sizeable proportion of parents don't even bother making sure their kid attends regularly when schools are open. You really think they're going to go out and shovel so schools can open? Most parents don't even read their email from school and haven't seen Reid's message.