What do we think will happen on Monday?

[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.

The email I received Friday said: “ All 12-month personnel are expected to report to their regular work locations on time.” There was an option to use leave if needed, but that’s no different from any other day.

So yeah, there was a directive to show up.

As I said, I’d be happy to show the email.
Sent at 7:19am on Friday 7/30 to all principals from Dr. Ponce:

Good morning Principals,

As we continue to experience icy roads, severe cold weather, and sidewalks that remain unwalkable in some areas, I am asking that you continue to exercise flexibility.

Telework is allowed, if needed, for all employees—both 12-month and less-than-12-month staff. Please ensure that no employee is placed at risk due to hazardous travel conditions.

Safety and well-being must remain our top priority.

Thank you for your leadership, flexibility, and continued support of your staff during these challenging conditions.

Please stay safe,



Yours,

Geovanny Ponce, Ed.D. | Chief of Schools

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. All of the schools have been cleared. There is no way that school will be canceled on Monday. Prepare yourselves.

And to the PP who said that their street still has not been plowed... It is very hard to believe your claim. If, by some chance, you speak the truth, why in the world did you not call VDOT on Tuesday to report the mistake?

There are streets in the Kingstowne area that have not been plowed yet. VDOT has been contacted several times.
Love your confidence, though!

Please do tell us which streets have not been plowed. So they we may go and marvel at your truthfulness.

And why not open schools and if parents don’t think safe or certain bus route not possible, those kids stay home excused? Why keep 179,000 other kids out of school because couple hundred kids can’t make it? Why do we close until every friggin square inch of the biggest county in area is clear??

Because teachers come from all over the county to work in a given school. Those teachers may live in areas that are impacted by the snow.

There is nowhere that is so severely impacted by snow that an adult can't leave their home. Main roads and highways are fine.

West Virginia, where two of my coworkers live, and Spotsylvania, where two other coworkers live, are still a mess.

Then by all means, let’s not educate almost 200,000 students because of West Virginia.

I NEVER said we should close FCPS schools due to four of my coworkers' areas being inaccessible, and it is shocking that an adult would jump to that conclusion. I expect my 14 and 15--year-old students to make those types of irrational leaps, and it is developmentally appropriate for them to do so, but it is frightening that an adult would do the same.

If you read the post to which I responded, it is extraordinarily clear that my reply was to the post that said "There is nowhere that is so severely impacted by snow that an adult can't leave their home. Main roads and highways are fine." I was pointing out that it is not true that there is "nowhere" tha is still inaccessible.

Simmer down, lady. The leap was justified given the thread. Read it again.

[Anonymous]

Fredericksburg closed. Let the dominoes begin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

If FCPS can close months on end for a virus, they can certainly wait a few more days until enough ice has been busted up/melted to make it safe for most children to get to school.

This stuff isn’t going anywhere in “a few more days.” Look at the weather and the highs. We’ll get above freezing for a few hours at most on Tuesday. Possibly tomorrow if we’re lucky. That’s it. No rain in the forecast which would do a lot more. There’s nowhere for the ice/snow to go. They don’t have some miracle way of getting rid of the snow in Cleveland or Buffalo or Boston or wherever either. They’ll have huge piles until Spring too. Although it is generally plowed better as you are quite literally not allowed to park on the street on some streets when heavy snowfall is expected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

If FCPS can close months on end for a virus, they can certainly wait a few more days until enough ice has been busted up/melted to make it safe for most children to get to school.

This stuff isn’t going anywhere in “a few more days.” Look at the weather and the highs. We’ll get above freezing for a few hours at most on Tuesday. Possibly tomorrow if we’re lucky. That’s it. No rain in the forecast which would do a lot more. There’s nowhere for the ice/snow to go. They don’t have some miracle way of getting rid of the snow in Cleveland or Buffalo or Boston or wherever either. They’ll have huge piles until Spring too. Although it is generally plowed better as you are quite literally not allowed to park on the street on some streets when heavy snowfall is expected.

Yeah, I mean I kind of expect them to close to kick the can down the road, but there isn't a real solution on the table here. What you see is what you get when it comes to the ice. This isn't going to really get dented until very late February and into early March.

[Anonymous]

I think they’ll close to give more time for a strategic plan. You can tell from Reid’s email Friday that there was no planning done last week if all she had to offer was “if you want schools open, shovel your sidewalks!” What they need to do is figure out alternate bus stops and possibly routes, ways to stagger arrival, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fredericksburg closed. Let the dominoes begin.

Oooooh!

[Anonymous]

If they are running buses then maybe we will be on time!

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:My favorite is people complaining on Facebook about sidewalks not being shoveled and saying there’s no way the kids can go to school because of it. As if someone is going to just come along and do it for them. I get that plows made everything harder by piling up snow. They did it to us too, but you have to get out there and work on it or find someone who can help. It’s like there is no concept of personal responsibility anymore. Everyone just throws their hands up and says there’s no possible solution.

How does one work on a glacier?

If people had worked on it as it was happening it would have been easier. We shoveled, pushed aside sleet, and then used shovels to break up the ice build up on Sunday. It sucked but our sidewalk and driveway were clear by Sunday afternoon. People who chose to wait made a choice and now are arguing that the ice is too much.

If you don’t see that starting early and sucking up the fact that it sucked early caused that glacier on your sidewalk, that is on you. Now figure out how to deal with it. Hardware stores sell tools that work on this stuff, you might need to buy one.

Exactly! We shoveled multiple times on Sunday. I shoveled our walkway Sunday evening and it’s been totally fine to walk on (albeit carefully) since then. We had so much advance notice that a storm was coming AND what kind of storm it would be. No excuse not to have obtained a shovel ahead of time or to have sat on your butt all day Sunday watching it pile up.

I’m not sure where you live, but we shoveled twice on Sunday and it turned into an ice rink by Monday. I also note that I usually have no issue with shoveling my driveway; however, this week was hard — both my DH and I agreed it was a lot more difficult than in the past. We usually shovel a neighbor’s driveway, but we just didn’t have the energy this time.

Also, I assume you have children at home who can watch themselves, and maybe a spouse who helped you. Some people are single parents with small children who need constant supervision, making shoveling a challenge.

If someone is literally postpartum right now I hope a neighbor or family member helped. Otherwise those of us with small children have to bring them outside while we shovel, or shovel while they sleep with a video monitor. My preschooler was able to help, and when she got bored of that she played.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We should be closed. We’ve only used 2.5 snow days. We started two weeks before Labor Day and are going until June 17. We can take another day off.

To what end? How does Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, etc. look any different?

Tuesday is supposed to be above freezing temperatures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We should be closed. We’ve only used 2.5 snow days. We started two weeks before Labor Day and are going until June 17. We can take another day off.

To what end? How does Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, etc. look any different?

Tuesday is supposed to be above freezing temperatures.

Have you seen how big the ice blocks are!? One day of 36 degrees is not going to solve this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We should be closed. We’ve only used 2.5 snow days. We started two weeks before Labor Day and are going until June 17. We can take another day off.

To what end? How does Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, etc. look any different?

Tuesday is supposed to be above freezing temperatures.

Which will do what to the huge ice walls?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My favorite is people complaining on Facebook about sidewalks not being shoveled and saying there’s no way the kids can go to school because of it. As if someone is going to just come along and do it for them. I get that plows made everything harder by piling up snow. They did it to us too, but you have to get out there and work on it or find someone who can help. It’s like there is no concept of personal responsibility anymore. Everyone just throws their hands up and says there’s no possible solution.

How does one work on a glacier?

If people had worked on it as it was happening it would have been easier. We shoveled, pushed aside sleet, and then used shovels to break up the ice build up on Sunday. It sucked but our sidewalk and driveway were clear by Sunday afternoon. People who chose to wait made a choice and now are arguing that the ice is too much.

If you don’t see that starting early and sucking up the fact that it sucked early caused that glacier on your sidewalk, that is on you. Now figure out how to deal with it. Hardware stores sell tools that work on this stuff, you might need to buy one.

Exactly! We shoveled multiple times on Sunday. I shoveled our walkway Sunday evening and it’s been totally fine to walk on (albeit carefully) since then. We had so much advance notice that a storm was coming AND what kind of storm it would be. No excuse not to have obtained a shovel ahead of time or to have sat on your butt all day Sunday watching it pile up.

I’m not sure where you live, but we shoveled twice on Sunday and it turned into an ice rink by Monday. I also note that I usually have no issue with shoveling my driveway; however, this week was hard — both my DH and I agreed it was a lot more difficult than in the past. We usually shovel a neighbor’s driveway, but we just didn’t have the energy this time.

Also, I assume you have children at home who can watch themselves, and maybe a spouse who helped you. Some people are single parents with small children who need constant supervision, making shoveling a challenge.

If someone is literally postpartum right now I hope a neighbor or family member helped. Otherwise those of us with small children have to bring them outside while we shovel, or shovel while they sleep with a video monitor. My preschooler was able to help, and when she got bored of that she played.

+1, these are not unsolvable problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We should be closed. We’ve only used 2.5 snow days. We started two weeks before Labor Day and are going until June 17. We can take another day off.

To what end? How does Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, etc. look any different?

Tuesday is supposed to be above freezing temperatures.

Have you seen how big the ice blocks are!? One day of 36 degrees is not going to solve this

And it’s not a day. Tuesday will be above freezing for about four hours.

[Anonymous]

That they haven't sent out a message about opening must mean they are still considering closure or delay. I really don't care but it would be good to know soon so we can plan.

As long as we don't have to hear about PP's chunky ice any more. That is not a thing.