Will DCPS be closed tomorrow (Wednesday)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A delay won’t do anything because of how cold it will be. Those two hours aren’t gonna make a lick of difference. If the city/DCPS aren’t ready by 8 am it’s gonna be another day off, there’s really no in between.

Except that a delay obviously gives everyone 2 additional hours to get to school. Think a delay makes sense tbh

If you need to build in two additional hours to get to school, that probably means it’s not exactly safe to do so. DCPS also is loath to delay opening because if they have to change their minds and call off they day, everyone will roast their indecision.

This all is going to come down to WMATA’s ability to get the bus system back online.

[Anonymous]

My high schooler will be taking the metro if dcps open up. It'll take a while but with cars essentially hemmed in by plowed snow, there's no choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No way dcps opens if wmata can’t get more buses running. Only one of the six lines serving JR/Deal is fully running right now. Two of the six are on detoured routes and three are still completely suspended. And I’m going to guess that’s the case for a sizable number of schools.

Not to mention a huge number of bus stops are not shoveled out and kids will have to wait in the road to catch the buses.

[Anonymous]

Gee sure would be nice if the useless National Guard picked up some shovels right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A delay won’t do anything because of how cold it will be. Those two hours aren’t gonna make a lick of difference. If the city/DCPS aren’t ready by 8 am it’s gonna be another day off, there’s really no in between.

Except that a delay obviously gives everyone 2 additional hours to get to school. Think a delay makes sense tbh

If you need to build in two additional hours to get to school, that probably means it’s not exactly safe to do so. DCPS also is loath to delay opening because if they have to change their minds and call off they day, everyone will roast their indecision.

This all is going to come down to WMATA’s ability to get the bus system back online.

Doesn’t mean it’s unsafe at all. It means it takes longer than usual. Think that’s pretty reasonable in this case, but if not a delay, should open on time. No need to close cause sidewalks are yucky

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A delay won’t do anything because of how cold it will be. Those two hours aren’t gonna make a lick of difference. If the city/DCPS aren’t ready by 8 am it’s gonna be another day off, there’s really no in between.

Except that a delay obviously gives everyone 2 additional hours to get to school. Think a delay makes sense tbh

If you need to build in two additional hours to get to school, that probably means it’s not exactly safe to do so. DCPS also is loath to delay opening because if they have to change their minds and call off they day, everyone will roast their indecision.

This all is going to come down to WMATA’s ability to get the bus system back online.

Doesn’t mean it’s unsafe at all. It means it takes longer than usual. Think that’s pretty reasonable in this case, but if not a delay, should open on time. No need to close cause sidewalks are yucky

It would be dreamy if the sidewalks and roads in my neighborhood were merely “yucky.” I guess you’re just blessed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The main roads I have seen are in great shape. I get that it's hard for some people who live on un-plowed streets to get to those bigger roads, but at some point, they are just going to have to find a way. Schools probably should have been open today, but tomorrow they definitely should. I suspect they will be.

Yeah, the city did a great job clearing the commuter thoroughfares. At the expense of side roads and neighborhoods (and pedestrian crossings!).

Guess where people live and where schools are?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gee sure would be nice if the useless National Guard picked up some shovels right?

Yeah, that's what they need to do. What are we paying them for?

[Anonymous]

I mean the main roads of DC are like perfectly clear. Walking to a major street and using a bus seems completely reasonable.

The DC side streets are definitely less cleared, but I’ve seen plenty of small sedans driving on them throughout the day. If not drivable, students can walk to a major road and take a bus or metro. If they can’t make it, they’ll just be absent. But schools should be open.

[Anonymous]

Here’s the thing. It’s not going to START melting until Monday or Tuesday. That’s a VERY unusual situation for DC, to have gotten this much precipitation and not see so much as a minute above freezing for a week.

If it was going to be 38 degrees tomorrow, it might make sense to wait another day, let stuff soften up and start to melt, send the plows out again to move the slushier snow, before kids are back. After all, to other people’s points, it IS pretty rough out there.

But at this point - by the time school starts tomorrow, 99% of streets will have been plowed and salted at least once since the snow stopped. People have had plenty of time to shovel sidewalks. Which means nothing else is substantively going to change between 6am tomorrow (Wed) and next week. So we either go to school tomorrow and tough it out or literally not go back until next Monday/Tuesday.

So I think we should go back (and I think we will).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Three schools in my neighborhood are serviced by a bus route that is not operating today. None of the sidewalks are cleared and it’s a brisk 20 minute walk from the metro station on a good day. So even if we assume that the teachers are able to drive in, I’m not sure how the majority of students will get to school.

You really want to close schools because kids are going to have to stomp through 20 minutes of snow?

It's not snow. It's ice. Have you been outside???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean the main roads of DC are like perfectly clear. Walking to a major street and using a bus seems completely reasonable.

The DC side streets are definitely less cleared, but I’ve seen plenty of small sedans driving on them throughout the day. If not drivable, students can walk to a major road and take a bus or metro. If they can’t make it, they’ll just be absent. But schools should be open.

Ok but what if the bus isn’t running, as will almost certainly be the case tomorrow? Not all of us live close to a Metro station.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Three schools in my neighborhood are serviced by a bus route that is not operating today. None of the sidewalks are cleared and it’s a brisk 20 minute walk from the metro station on a good day. So even if we assume that the teachers are able to drive in, I’m not sure how the majority of students will get to school.

You really want to close schools because kids are going to have to stomp through 20 minutes of snow?

This is extremely ableist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Three schools in my neighborhood are serviced by a bus route that is not operating today. None of the sidewalks are cleared and it’s a brisk 20 minute walk from the metro station on a good day. So even if we assume that the teachers are able to drive in, I’m not sure how the majority of students will get to school.

You really want to close schools because kids are going to have to stomp through 20 minutes of snow?

This is extremely ableist.

Ope. Referring to this: “You really want to close schools because kids are going to have to stomp through 20 minutes of snow?”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the thing. It’s not going to START melting until Monday or Tuesday. That’s a VERY unusual situation for DC, to have gotten this much precipitation and not see so much as a minute above freezing for a week.

If it was going to be 38 degrees tomorrow, it might make sense to wait another day, let stuff soften up and start to melt, send the plows out again to move the slushier snow, before kids are back. After all, to other people’s points, it IS pretty rough out there.

But at this point - by the time school starts tomorrow, 99% of streets will have been plowed and salted at least once since the snow stopped. People have had plenty of time to shovel sidewalks. Which means nothing else is substantively going to change between 6am tomorrow (Wed) and next week. So we either go to school tomorrow and tough it out or literally not go back until next Monday/Tuesday.

So I think we should go back (and I think we will).

I agree with this logic. But I am confident 99% of the streets won't be cleared tomorrow. I haven't seen a single plow in my neighborhood. It is worse than usual this storm.