2 hour delay, Monday 12/11

[Anonymous]

There was a 6+ car accident on 270 this morning due to ice. Did folks really want school buses involved in them, too?

[Anonymous]

I usually leave my house at 7 to get to work (at school) and rolled my eyes when I looked out the window. Left around 8 and figured I would use the extra time to run some quick errands. The roads and parking lots were super icy and driving was difficult. They made the right call.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got a couple of inches in Travilah! It’s drizzling and I think it will be gone before the kids wake up but it’s pretty. MCPS blows it again by not letting it be a school by school delay when our roads are warm from yesterdays nice temperatures and it’s not icy. But I’m happy, I love having my children home!!

Many kids go to schools that aren't their neighborhood school. Chaos would ensue.

To Travilah PP, did you even try driving? Our roads looked perfectly clear but then you go outside and it was all icy and slippery. It also sounds like you have elementary kids but some high school kids start leaving around the time MCPS called and most an hour after that time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There was a 6+ car accident on 270 this morning due to ice. Did folks really want school buses involved in them, too?

Very bad tractor trailer and car accident on 495 at Colesville this morning too. Multiple people taken to the hospital. It was backed up from 7 to past 10 a.m. with 4 lanes being closed most of the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There will be more delays and cancellations this winter. Best to make preparations now.
I have lived and worked in this county long enough to remember times when a delay wasn’t called and should have been. Or days when a delay should have turned into a cancellation and didn’t. I also know that the parents of the children who didn’t get to come home again because of those errors in mcps judgement would be happy to have their children back. Remember this the next time inclement weather effects the school day.

curious why you conclude that delays or cancellations “should have been called.” presumably there was no mass carnage on those days. so that actually seems to support NOT delaying/cancelling.

Huh? Did you forget about the school bus that slid off the road? It wasn't carnage but it wasn't good.

Somehow jurisdictions everywhere manage it … at a certain point kids have to go to school.

[Anonymous]

Two inches in Montgomery Village.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There will be more delays and cancellations this winter. Best to make preparations now.
I have lived and worked in this county long enough to remember times when a delay wasn’t called and should have been. Or days when a delay should have turned into a cancellation and didn’t. I also know that the parents of the children who didn’t get to come home again because of those errors in mcps judgement would be happy to have their children back. Remember this the next time inclement weather effects the school day.

curious why you conclude that delays or cancellations “should have been called.” presumably there was no mass carnage on those days. so that actually seems to support NOT delaying/cancelling.

Huh? Did you forget about the school bus that slid off the road? It wasn't carnage but it wasn't good.

Somehow jurisdictions everywhere manage it … at a certain point kids have to go to school.

Maryland drivers can't even drive safely in good weather, let alone bad weather. There were crashes all over the place this morning. MCPS made the right call.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There will be more delays and cancellations this winter. Best to make preparations now.
I have lived and worked in this county long enough to remember times when a delay wasn’t called and should have been. Or days when a delay should have turned into a cancellation and didn’t. I also know that the parents of the children who didn’t get to come home again because of those errors in mcps judgement would be happy to have their children back. Remember this the next time inclement weather effects the school day.

curious why you conclude that delays or cancellations “should have been called.” presumably there was no mass carnage on those days. so that actually seems to support NOT delaying/cancelling.

Huh? Did you forget about the school bus that slid off the road? It wasn't carnage but it wasn't good.

Somehow jurisdictions everywhere manage it … at a certain point kids have to go to school.

Jurisdictions with more wintry weather invest more to manage it. Makes little sense to invest tons for the occasional stuff we get here when a 2 hour delay takes care of it for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got a couple of inches in Travilah! It’s drizzling and I think it will be gone before the kids wake up but it’s pretty. MCPS blows it again by not letting it be a school by school delay when our roads are warm from yesterdays nice temperatures and it’s not icy. But I’m happy, I love having my children home!!

Many kids go to schools that aren't their neighborhood school. Chaos would ensue.

To Travilah PP, did you even try driving? Our roads looked perfectly clear but then you go outside and it was all icy and slippery. It also sounds like you have elementary kids but some high school kids start leaving around the time MCPS called and most an hour after that time.

Np, but yeah. I was out driving in the Travilah area. Totally fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Daycare doesn’t have a bus, but they do go based on MCPS

So, you’re blaming MCPS for your daycare’s lack of leadership in making their own inclement weather policy.

Not the point of this thread but this is a dumb take. Many daycares align their weather policies with the local school system as parents often have other children in schools. 🙄

NP. I understand why daycares do this, but it's a ridiculous policy. A local daycare that does not provide transportation does not have the same safety concerns as a large countywide public school system responsible for busing thousands of children. It's terrible for families. I was so happy to finish that phase of my family's life. Schools delay at the drop of a hat because it costs them nothing, but there are consequences for most working parents with kids in daycare.

Find a daycare that doesn’t follow the school weather policy. Easy and simple. You sign up for something and then complain about following the policies. You knew exactly what you were signing onto. And plenty of day cares don’t follow the school Weather policy.

Is the bolded true? My kids are older now, but when they were in daycare, I could not find any daycares nearby where they didn't follow public school delays and closings. Maybe things are better now.

My kids have been out of daycare for five years but ours followed the federal government weather delays rather than MCPS.

It’s true. Many follow OPM. Fewer follow their own policies but they are out there.

My kid's preschool does not align itself with montgomery county, although they have certainly been times when they're closing and opening decisions overlapped.

[Anonymous]

For preschools, it's so much easier to follow mcps than try to get your message out through the blizzard of announcements, and preschoolers often have siblings in mcps so aligning makes dropoff/pickup routines for parents easier.

Private k-12 schools not so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There will be more delays and cancellations this winter. Best to make preparations now.
I have lived and worked in this county long enough to remember times when a delay wasn’t called and should have been. Or days when a delay should have turned into a cancellation and didn’t. I also know that the parents of the children who didn’t get to come home again because of those errors in mcps judgement would be happy to have their children back. Remember this the next time inclement weather effects the school day.

curious why you conclude that delays or cancellations “should have been called.” presumably there was no mass carnage on those days. so that actually seems to support NOT delaying/cancelling.

Huh? Did you forget about the school bus that slid off the road? It wasn't carnage but it wasn't good.

Somehow jurisdictions everywhere manage it … at a certain point kids have to go to school.

Maryland drivers can't even drive safely in good weather, let alone bad weather. There were crashes all over the place this morning. MCPS made the right call.

Yeah I'm from a great lakes city that gets a fair amount of snow, and I've just accepted this area can't handle even a small amount of snow. I think part of it is the lack of understanding that in inclement weather, you need to build in extra time to get somewhere. My dad would regularly be up an hour early in the winter- e.g., a half hour to clear the driveway, an extra half hour to commute to work. Sure they were better at plowing the roads there but with lake effect snow they can't always keep up, it's gonna be messy. You just deal. Here no one understands the concept of building in extra time to clear their cars or go slow- they want to leave at their normal time and drive their normal speeds and then slide off the road.