Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe PP who expected her school to open on time and just let kids sit in the cafeteria and watch a movie because she and her partner cannot manage to take care of her kids. School is not for babysitting; it is for learning. If it is not open for learning it is not open. Pay for morning SACC if you can't manage the two hour delays.

I already pay for school, thanks. It's called taxes. Fairfax gives me their schedule and I base my work around it. If they're closed for an emergency, I'll make other arrangements. If they're open for students, I expect my children to be allowed to enter the building. I also think people in this area have a right to be peeved, given that schools systems NORTH of us stayed open today.

And school is certainly open for "not learning," PP. Class parties, assemblies, etc., and then weeks of nonsense once the SOLs are over. My kids have watched more than one movie in their FCPS tenure.

Do you have plans in place in case there is a delay on Friday?

Anonymous wrote:I pay taxes to send my kids to school. A school I am legally compelled to send them to, mind you - unless I can certify that I'm able to homeschool them instead. It is hardly "free babysitting".

I send my children to the school I pay for, as I am required to do, and I expect them to keep up their end of the bargain, and be there to teach my children every scheduled school day, absent an emergency. 20 degree weather is not an emergency.

If it were important to the schools to be open, they would find a way.

They'll be open by the time it gets up to 20 degrees.

Anonymous wrote:Four schools in the whole county closed early and "a handful of buses also had trouble operating in the cold." That still doesn't justify keeping thousands of children out of school And I'm not the poster complaining about childcare logistics. I stay at home, but my children should be at school learning.

Uh, four schools is a lot. You figure 2000 in the high school. 500 in the middle school and 250 in each elementary school - that's 3000 students freezing their asses off. They crammed all the kids in one of the elementary schools into the library together to try and stay warm. A two-hour delay would have let them keep those students at home,while bringing the rest in. Seems like MOCO and FFX both made the wrong call. A 2-hour delay would have made more sense.

Four schools in the whole county closed early and "a handful of buses also had trouble operating in the cold." That still doesn't justify keeping thousands of children out of school And I'm not the poster complaining about childcare logistics. I stay at home, but my children should be at school learning.

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Chicago. I can assure you that school buses work in the cold weather.

I grew up in Vermont and our buses always ran, BUT they had special fuel line heaters and other equipment that I am sure FCPS does not have.

Anonymous wrote:Not to mention all the buses in Montgomery County, MD started just fine this morning. It was the same temp there as here. FCPS blew this one.

Not true. Some MOCO buses did not start and some pickups were late. Also they had to close four schools in a montgomery county today.

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/01/joshua-starr-montgomery-county-public-schools-superintendent-draws-ire-on-twitter-98964.html

Not to mention all the buses in Montgomery County, MD started just fine this morning. It was the same temp there as here. FCPS blew this one.

I think you are missing the fact that your personal opinion does not determine what an emergency is. If you have kids, you must make adequate contingency plans. You really sound like a whiner.

I grew up in Chicago. I can assure you that school buses work in the cold weather.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about finding a stay at home mom and paying her to watch your kids on days like this? Everyone should have some type of plan. What do you do when your child is sick?

I have plans for when there are extenuating circumstances ... like illness. NOT for freakin 20 degree weather! SMH.

It is forecast to be 2 degrees at 6:30 am tomorrow morning, when many middle and high schoolers are outside (in the dark) waiting at their bus stops. I am guessing FCPS thought it would be good to delay the start so the buses would have time to warm up and the temps are above 10 degrees when they pick up middle and high schoolers.

The way the bus routes work, the middle/high school runs are first, and then the buses make their elementary school runs.

Fine. Then have "no bus service" days. No need to completely lose another day of school.

I pay taxes to send my kids to school. A school I am legally compelled to send them to, mind you - unless I can certify that I'm able to homeschool them instead. It is hardly "free babysitting".

I send my children to the school I pay for, as I am required to do, and I expect them to keep up their end of the bargain, and be there to teach my children every scheduled school day, absent an emergency. 20 degree weather is not an emergency.

If it were important to the schools to be open, they would find a way.

I have a sister in Illinois. Their school district has 300 buses. 50 of them did not start Monday and 70 of them did not start today even though this morning was warmer than yesterday. It was seven degrees about the same we are looking at here for tomorrow.

Why are the busses in fairfax so special? They work in Vermont and in Wisconsin and Illinois in similar temperatures. I don't get it.

Buses can run in the cold. City buses ran all day today without incident. There is no ice or snow hazards. If you're worried about your child getting cold waiting for the bus, drive them to the stop. If you're worried about a walker, drive them to the school. I can sort of see the reason for cancellation today as there was uncertainty how the infrastructure would hold up, but everything was fine and tomorrow will be warmer. There is NO reason for the delay tomorrow.

Busses are an issue. They run on diesel and if not properly fueled and stored they will not start. My father was a school superintendent and busses not starting were one of the many factors he had to consider when making the call to close or delay school. A 2-hour delay seems reasonable here where we have not had temps this low in 20 years. My biggest concern is for the kids with long walks who are enroute before sunrise. DS had one of those before we moved.

Oh and expect to see some water mains start breaking later this week. We will probably see some schools and roads closed for that.