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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It's on the Damascus High School website.

FINALLY. MCPS is understanding that they need to adjust according to location. I know it's complicated for students who are bussed to special programs, and I hope everyone was adequately warned...

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It's not about students, it's about staff who live in these areas.  Were all staff who live in Damascus able to stay home too?  What happens when there is zero administrators who show up to work in a Silver Spring school?  Or there's not a single kindergarten teacher who is able to come in?  Or their kids are home from school today?  [/quote]

There has always been a lower bar for closing schools vs. closing workplaces.  It's about student safety.  MCPS staff can do what other adult workers do- get up early to allow extra time for cleaning the car/walkways and driving to work.  If they can't make it out of their street (was there this much snow anywhere?) they call in and say they can't make it.  If their kids attend Damascus and they don't have a backup childcare plan, same.  The DMV is filled with people who live somewhere different than they work- we do as well- and you have to adjust accordingly.[/quote]

But the point you are missing is the safety issue.

When office workers call out, meetings may be canceled but it isn’t a safety issue. Nobody has to guard a desk.

When teachers call out, someone has to now monitor those students. If multiple teachers call out, then situations can get tricky very fast. I’ve had to watch over 70 children by myself before because of short staffing. I’d rather not do that again. Bad memories.[/quote]

So did that happen yesterday?  Did you have to watch 70 kids by yourself?

I've lived here over 20 years but I'm still sometimes surprised by the fragility of people in the DMV.[/quote]

No, but yesterday.

My point is that it isn’t so simple to say “open schools and those who can’t make it in just take leave.” Those of us who make it in have to cover, which is fine. That’s our job. But when too many people can’t make it in, things get disastrous quickly. I’ve been there, when we didn’t have enough staff to adequately cover classes. It is 100% a safety issue.

The safety issue isn’t simply the roads. It’s the staffing. 
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