What was fcps thinking

[Anonymous]

Felt really bad for those HS students standing out in the cold unaware that their bus was 30 min. late. Those kids had on thin spring jackets, no hat. I was bundled and freezing in just 10 min.

I don't have a HS-er, but would have offered them a ride if I had known at the time that they were in for a long wait.

why can't fcps adapt their fuels/buses to cold weather? Anything above zero is normal/expected winter weather -- even in the mid-atlantic. This isn't -30 degrees we're talking about. 10-15 degrees above zero is standard winter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Felt really bad for those HS students standing out in the cold unaware that their bus was 30 min. late. Those kids had on thin spring jackets, no hat. I was bundled and freezing in just 10 min.

I don't have a HS-er, but would have offered them a ride if I had known at the time that they were in for a long wait.

why can't fcps adapt their fuels/buses to cold weather? Anything above zero is normal/expected winter weather -- even in the mid-atlantic. This isn't -30 degrees we're talking about. 10-15 degrees above zero is standard winter.

Fairfax follows national guidelines for the age of the bus fleet, that no buses be older than 15 years and that the average age of the bus fleet be 7-8 years. However, Fairfax has many buses 15-20 years old and many buses older than 8 years. Replacing the fleet is lower priority than renovating/building schools, etc. Properly, imo.

[Anonymous]

Bunch of whiners. FCPS would be blasted for delaying or closing and you all are blasting them for opening on time.

Bus drivers did go in early and warm up the busses.

Delaying 2 hours wouldn't have changed anything as it is not getting warmer.

It is not cost effective for our school busses to have engine heaters as our average temps are not low enough to warrant them. Money is limited and choices have to be made.

Bundle your kid up, drive them to school or wait with them in your car at the stop.

[Anonymous]

No kidding! HSers wearing spring attire are not, apparently, intelligent! FCPS made the right call. Time to bundle up and deal with global warming!

[Anonymous]

FCPS would also be blasted if they spent more of their budget on engine heaters that'll only be used twice a year. Can't win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No kidding! HSers wearing spring attire are not, apparently, intelligent! FCPS made the right call. Time to bundle up and deal with global warming!

Some other PP called a kid not properly dressed a "dumbass".

Do you people really think that every kid in this area is highly intelligent? Yes, some of the kids are not too sharp!

Not only that, but some of your little geniuses go to school on a day like this in shorts and neon colored socks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Felt really bad for those HS students standing out in the cold unaware that their bus was 30 min. late. Those kids had on thin spring jackets, no hat. I was bundled and freezing in just 10 min.

I don't have a HS-er, but would have offered them a ride if I had known at the time that they were in for a long wait.

why can't fcps adapt their fuels/buses to cold weather? Anything above zero is normal/expected winter weather -- even in the mid-atlantic. This isn't -30 degrees we're talking about. 10-15 degrees above zero is standard winter.

Why can't people adapt to the cold weather? They presumably know from past experience that some buses have a hard time starting during cold weather, especially when they have not been started up for two weeks. People also know (again, from experience), that cold weather tends to be... wait for it... COLD. So they should dress appropriately and/or make plans to drive their kids to school on days when there is a possible bus delay. I for one appreciate FCPS making a call early enough so we could plan, and we just drove DD to school this morning, even though her bus was not listed on the FCPS website as delayed. No big deal. It's called personal responsibility - it baffles me that everyone always expects other people to be responsible for things that could easily be handled by stepping up and taking charge of your own life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No kidding! HSers wearing spring attire are not, apparently, intelligent! FCPS made the right call. Time to bundle up and deal with global warming!

Some other PP called a kid not properly dressed a "dumbass".

Do you people really think that every kid in this area is highly intelligent? Yes, some of the kids are not too sharp!

Not only that, but some of your little geniuses go to school on a day like this in shorts and neon colored socks.

eh, HS kids have furnace level metabolisms that keep them warm. They don't get cold like their middle aged moms with under active thyroid glands do.

[Anonymous]

I see no issues with anything FCPS did this morning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

You can't compare the bus fleets between the two school systems. FCC has about 5 buses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Felt really bad for those HS students standing out in the cold unaware that their bus was 30 min. late. Those kids had on thin spring jackets, no hat. I was bundled and freezing in just 10 min.

I don't have a HS-er, but would have offered them a ride if I had known at the time that they were in for a long wait.

why can't fcps adapt their fuels/buses to cold weather? Anything above zero is normal/expected winter weather -- even in the mid-atlantic. This isn't -30 degrees we're talking about. 10-15 degrees above zero is standard winter.

Why can't people adapt to the cold weather? They presumably know from past experience that some buses have a hard time starting during cold weather, especially when they have not been started up for two weeks. People also know (again, from experience), that cold weather tends to be... wait for it... COLD. So they should dress appropriately and/or make plans to drive their kids to school on days when there is a possible bus delay. I for one appreciate FCPS making a call early enough so we could plan, and we just drove DD to school this morning, even though her bus was not listed on the FCPS website as delayed. No big deal. It's called personal responsibility - it baffles me that everyone always expects other people to be responsible for things that could easily be handled by stepping up and taking charge of your own life.

reasonable people "adapt" to cold weather by wearing winter clothes... that's true. But, I had multiple layers/leggins/jeans/winter coat/hat/mittens/boots on today with my younger child at the bus stop and it was DANG cold. It is reasonable for people to wait outside in the cold -- and prepare for that. But, when buses are 30-60-90 min. late, that is not reasonable. People have to be prepared for being in cold weather. Buses have to be prepared for being in cold weather too. FCPS did not take reasonable precautions to run the buses. I'm not a mechanic, but they are not doing enough. This was not sub-zero weather. This was just cold winter.

No, it is not reasonable for parents to have to drive kids to school when it is simply cold weather. If they say the buses will run, then the buses need to run. I don't want them to call off school. I want them to put the $$ where it needs to be. Cold weather is a foreseeable situation. They need to prepare better for it. It's their job to make the trains (or buses in this case) run on time -- or closer to it. No one expects perfection. But, this is simply a failure to plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Felt really bad for those HS students standing out in the cold unaware that their bus was 30 min. late. Those kids had on thin spring jackets, no hat. I was bundled and freezing in just 10 min.

I don't have a HS-er, but would have offered them a ride if I had known at the time that they were in for a long wait.

why can't fcps adapt their fuels/buses to cold weather? Anything above zero is normal/expected winter weather -- even in the mid-atlantic. This isn't -30 degrees we're talking about. 10-15 degrees above zero is standard winter.

That is not a “standard winter” in the DC area.

https://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/washington/district-of-columbia/united-states/usdc0001

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No kidding! HSers wearing spring attire are not, apparently, intelligent! FCPS made the right call. Time to bundle up and deal with global warming!

Some other PP called a kid not properly dressed a "dumbass".

Do you people really think that every kid in this area is highly intelligent? Yes, some of the kids are not too sharp!

Not only that, but some of your little geniuses go to school on a day like this in shorts and neon colored socks.

I didn't have any students wearing shorts today (elementary), but I can't say that I wouldn't have been surprised to see it. Most were pretty well bundled up and only two that I know of were inadequately dressed for recess.

[Anonymous]

Wow didn’t realize this was an issue. I expected to get a “school is closed/de,Ayer” text, but didn’t expect to only get an email, so didn’t check.

Anyway, glad I insisted on taking my HSer this morning because he was late getting out, and otherwise would have forgotten something important. I would’ve been pretty peeved if he had to wait for the bus in the cold. He only wears a NF hooded fleece jacket over a T-shirt everyday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow didn’t realize this was an issue. I expected to get a “school is closed/de,Ayer” text, but didn’t expect to only get an email, so didn’t check.

Anyway, glad I insisted on taking my HSer this morning because he was late getting out, and otherwise would have forgotten something important. I would’ve been pretty peeved if he had to wait for the bus in the cold. He only wears a NF hooded fleece jacket over a T-shirt everyday.

You’d be peeved if he had to wait because he chose to not wear something heavier?