What do we think will happen on Monday?

[Anonymous]

Just call it FCPS - whatever they are doing, going in, 2 hour delay, or day off.

HS DC has second half of a final exam (semester class). She was told it would be given in the next class period. She keeps studying for it, and really needs to work on some other classes too.

Just let us know what’s going on so the students can prioritize and prepare accordingly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just call it FCPS - whatever they are doing, going in, 2 hour delay, or day off.

HS DC has second half of a final exam (semester class). She was told it would be given in the next class period. She keeps studying for it, and really needs to work on some other classes too.

Just let us know what’s going on so the students can prioritize and prepare accordingly.

Agree. Make an early call so families know what is going on.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If you don’t think it’s safe for your children to go to school, keep them home. The rest of us value education. Kids need to be back in school. They need to finish out the semester!!!

Real parents and educators value safety. They will finish the semester stop with drama.

Then find a way to get your kid safely to school. You have the rest of the day to workshop it.

As do you if they are out. See how that works

I have. Have you workshopped your solution...or you just spending your day whining here?

LOL your little meltdown is funny.

Uh huh. And the little meltdown you're waiting to solve your school commute problems isn't happening. Figure it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just call it FCPS - whatever they are doing, going in, 2 hour delay, or day off.

HS DC has second half of a final exam (semester class). She was told it would be given in the next class period. She keeps studying for it, and really needs to work on some other classes too.

Just let us know what’s going on so the students can prioritize and prepare accordingly.

Agree. Make an early call so families know what is going on.

And staff too!
—signed a principal who just wants to know now in order to finalize plans for arrival

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We can talk about optics all we want but I just saw a picture of the state of the buses in my school’s lot…. Still buried in snow, ice on the roof, etc. I don’t even know if that physically can be resolved by tomorrow morning.

Then drive the kids to school. It is ridiculous to keep school closed when the majority can get to school just fine.

We do not prioritize education in this country.

So you think 1000 cars in the kiss-n-ride lane is a good idea?

And you think waiting until March to return to school is a good idea?

such drama

The drama involves those thinking that we have to wait for the great melt to return to school. It's not happening this month.

No the drama is coming from parents who are angry at a huge ice storm that may have FCPS using snow days that they BUILT in so they can spend more time digging out and safely getting buses and kids to school. Chill out.

+1

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:2 hour delay is almost certain for Monday, probably Tuesday as well. I doubt FCPS will be closed b/c of the PR problem, though I do worry about people getting hurt as the volume of people trying to navigate the snowcrete increases and more students (including youngkids walking/waiting for buses in the streets AND teen drivers) are out in the mix. Would be safest to stay closed Mon, delay opening Tues, and hope the increased temps make things safe from then on.

I don’t think we should keep schools closed/shortened so parents can avoid, you know, parenting. If its not safe for a teen to drive, the teens parents need to say they can’t drive and bring the kid to school themselves. If the bus stop is blocked parents need to either drive the kids or wait with them.

For all saying FCPS will get sued remember VA has contributory negligence.

It is perfectly safe for teens to drive. Not true for all teens.

Even the unplowed roads have had enough passes to make the residual ice chunky. The air is cold enough to prevent the chunky ice from becoming wet and slick. Chunky ice is very safe to drive on in this cold because your car can get traction as long as you don't drive or accelerate quickly. Ice driving becomes an issue when the ice is soft, wet, or flat, thin and glossy. The ice currently left on the roads is none of those things. It is hard, chunky and dry, which is very easy to drive on. "Very easy" Not so sure about that. All roads had enough passes? Don't know about that.

All of the main and secondary roads are bone dry and clear. Totally not true

The roads all are clear enough for us to have school. Not all. That's what is being debated here.

The only issues are parking, especially roadside parking, and sidewalks/bus stops which are often treacherous due to being unshoveled or covered with ice mounds. Not the only issues by far.

The sidewalks and bus stops are a safety hazard. very true

Vdot needs to clear all the school bus stops.

Impossible

Are you ffom some sub tropical Caribbean island where this is the first frozen stuff you have seen?

The main roads are completely clear. The local roads are all driveable. It is perfectly safe for teen drivers to be out driving. All true.

The issues are parking lots and roadside parking, which are a mess, and sidewalks and bis stops, many of which are treacherous

The roads are not an issue, not even the roads that are still covered. It is easy and safe to drive on cold dry chunky ice. In fact, the roads still covered in chunky ice are safer to drive on than the ones plowed close to the pavement with a thin layer of ice.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Pp here. We haven’t seen a plow for days. The street next to ours is plowed much better than ours. We only have one lane cleared and the area where our bus stop is has 8 feet of ice. It is like all the snow got pushed to that corner.

Plows are ineffective at this point. You’d need heavy construction equipment to break through. If people still think school should be closed tomorrow, they’re effectively saying it should be closed for the next several weeks.

I can drive my kids to school and would prefer school be open.

I can still acknowledge it isn’t safe for kids and buses.

It is what it is. Things aren’t changing for weeks. Canceling school tomorrow would be irrelevant to a longer term solution.

I don’t think a bus could make a turn on our street with the mountain of ice. Add in cars on opposite sides.

I hope school opens but if they do, there will definitely be some bad bus outcomes.

Then they need to figure out alternatives. Mountains of ice will take absolutely the longest to clear. You’re looking at March.

I already said I can and will drive my kids to school.

My oldest is in high school. A decade ago, we had a huge snow event and school was closed for two weeks. Our street was cleared by day 2. Fcps said roads out in western fcps weren’t cleared.

This time, our street still is in very poor condition. Can’t imagine how bad all those other streets out there where parents probably aren’t on dcum are.

Our new governor is doing a terrible job managing Vdot snow removal. She must be too busy signing all those new taxes, which ironically will add additional taxes to home maintenance and yardwork, including snow removal.

This wins for stupidest comment. WE get it you're still hurt a democrat won.

Road cleading falls directly under VDOT and the governor.

She has failed at her first big test.

I would say the exact same thing if this happened a minth ago and Youngkin was still governor.

(Adding taxes to snow removal is accurate though. The VA legislature is adding taxes to all home maintenance, renovations, repairs, appliance repairs, landscaping and yardwork, including snow removal. Virginia House Bill 900. Google it.)

You don’t think those providers should have to pay taxes?

You are going to pay the extra taxes on your final bills.

Everyone's home budget just increased with extra taxes, including your snow removal.

It will be billed just like an extra sales tax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t think it’s safe for your children to go to school, keep them home. The rest of us value education. Kids need to be back in school. They need to finish out the semester!!!

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t think it’s safe for your children to go to school, keep them home. The rest of us value education. Kids need to be back in school. They need to finish out the semester!!!

The end of the quarter/semester is exactly why this call is a bigger deal than usual. You can’t tell kids to stay at home if conditions are unsafe if they’re missing midterms. School has to open when the majority of students can reasonably make it to school. Not just the kids whose parents are privileged enough to be able to drive them.

It’s not that big of a deal. Yes, I have 2 in HS and one is even a senior. There is a rolling gradebook. Not many seniors actually need those 1st semester grades sent. It only matters for those few kids, which is a tiny percentage and those teachers are usually flexible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Schools will be open Monday. This is not a value judgement on whether they should or shouldn’t be, but if they felt Thursday & Friday were fine for 12-month staff to report on time, they’re not staying closed Monday.

Faulty reasoning. The issue is not if faculty can come to school (they can). The issue is the conditions are bad for kids who walk to school and use busses (per this thread, some bus stops are mountains of snowcrete).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools will be open Monday. This is not a value judgement on whether they should or shouldn’t be, but if they felt Thursday & Friday were fine for 12-month staff to report on time, they’re not staying closed Monday.

Faulty reasoning. The issue is not if faculty can come to school (they can). The issue is the conditions are bad for kids who walk to school and use busses (per this thread, some bus stops are mountains of snowcrete).

So your solution is?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just call it FCPS - whatever they are doing, going in, 2 hour delay, or day off.

HS DC has second half of a final exam (semester class). She was told it would be given in the next class period. She keeps studying for it, and really needs to work on some other classes too.

Just let us know what’s going on so the students can prioritize and prepare accordingly.

Agree. Make an early call so families know what is going on.

And staff too!
—signed a principal who just wants to know now in order to finalize plans for arrival

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools will be open Monday. This is not a value judgement on whether they should or shouldn’t be, but if they felt Thursday & Friday were fine for 12-month staff to report on time, they’re not staying closed Monday.

Actually they didn’t. I’d be happy to show you the emails where supervisors/principals were told to offer telework and virtual prof development for Thursday. And for Friday, it was a teacher workday where they already had the option to work in an alternate location. All administrators and office staff had the option to telework on Friday due to safety concerns about getting to school/office.

In short, no FCPS staff were directed to show up in person on Thursday or Friday because of safety concerns with commuting.

That’s crazy. Most non-fcps people went to work W, Th, and F. Fairfax County wasn’t closed. Staff commuting is totally different than schools being open for students. Staff should work. Transporting 178,000 kids is a whole different situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools will be open Monday. This is not a value judgement on whether they should or shouldn’t be, but if they felt Thursday & Friday were fine for 12-month staff to report on time, they’re not staying closed Monday.

Actually they didn’t. I’d be happy to show you the emails where supervisors/principals were told to offer telework and virtual prof development for Thursday. And for Friday, it was a teacher workday where they already had the option to work in an alternate location. All administrators and office staff had the option to telework on Friday due to safety concerns about getting to school/office.

In short, no FCPS staff were directed to show up in person on Thursday or Friday because of safety concerns with commuting.

That’s crazy. Most non-fcps people went to work W, Th, and F. Fairfax County wasn’t closed. Staff commuting is totally different than schools being open for students. Staff should work. Transporting 178,000 kids is a whole different situation.

Part of why they moved it online is because of their inane decision to move staff to a second location halfway through the day for a PD that could’ve been an email. It would be a lot of shuffling people around through unfamiliar parts of the county that wasn’t worth calling everyone in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools will be open Monday. This is not a value judgement on whether they should or shouldn’t be, but if they felt Thursday & Friday were fine for 12-month staff to report on time, they’re not staying closed Monday.

Faulty reasoning. The issue is not if faculty can come to school (they can). The issue is the conditions are bad for kids who walk to school and use busses (per this thread, some bus stops are mountains of snowcrete).

So your solution is?

Find ways for the walkers and bus kids to safely come to school. Hire a fleet of vans for the walkers (if there is no space on the busses)? Make large parking lots and cleared spaces temporary bus stations?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t think it’s safe for your children to go to school, keep them home. The rest of us value education. Kids need to be back in school. They need to finish out the semester!!!

Valuing education and the condition of the roads are not the same thing. We value education, kids have been reading, practicing math on iXL, watched a documentary with us. Going to a building is totally unrelated to valuing education.

Win win for you then. You'll have the opportunity to continue home schooling your kids when everybody else returns.

Haha, no wonder you guys are annoyed, you've done nothing and think education is being delayed.