Not the greatest decision ever made

[Barkeep49]

The entire faculty and parent body of my school received the following message:

Currently the skys are somewhat sunny, but a winter storm warning has been issued starting at 7 pm this evening through Friday evening. We are scheduled for a half day of school tomorrow, dismissing at noon. Rather than make an early morning decision about the weather, and to help you with your planning, I am making the decision now. School will be in session.

We recognize that for some the weather challenges may make it difficult to navigate for just a half day of school. Please use your best judgment.

Most of all have safe and happy holidays.

This is, of course, easy for him to say as he lives in a house two blocks from the school. The reaction from the faculty has not been supportive.

[MikeVic]

So, what's wrong with determining it early tomorrow morning?

[Kodos]

I always thought that cancelling school based on a weather forecast was pretty wimpy.

[Barkeep49]

Originally Posted by MikeVic

So, what's wrong with determining it early tomorrow morning?

I dunno. Ask him.

Originally Posted by Kodos

I always thought that cancelling school based on a weather forecast was pretty wimpy.

I agree.

I think it's much better to say nothing. Or say that we'll follow our procedure and decide tomorrow morning. Why decide now, when 13 inches of snow is forecasted?

[Passacaglia]

If I were a parent, I would be upset to receive a message from my kid's school with the word 'skys' in it.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm going to take a shot in the dark here & guess that you work for an idiot.

"Rather than make an early morning decision" sounds a lot like "I'm too lazy to get my butt up & do my job and make the call at the appropriate time".

[MJ4H]

Last year we missed two days of school when there was perfect weather because our administration cancelled school based on a forecast. Most of the rest of the decisions since I've been at this school have been to have school despite the fact that every school for 100 miles is cancelled. I routinely drive through 3 cities with school districts that are closed for the day to get to work.

[rowech]

Seriously...how in the hell does that leave with "skys" in it. What a joke.

[illinifan999]

We had a major icestorm last year that left a sheet of ice over pretty much everything. It was so bad the people in wheelchairs couldn't make it up the ramps. The school stayed open for the week, then cancelled half a week of classes after the ice melted. Brilliant.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

If I were a parent, I would be upset to receive a message from my kid's school with the word 'skys' in it.

[Lathum]

Just wait until he has to backtrack and cancel school and the shitstorm that ensues from all the parents that didn't make arraingments because he assured them there would be school

[gstelmack]

And here we had kids staying overnight in schools and 16-year-olds trying to drive home on ice because they waited until noon while the snow was falling to let school out.

I'd much rather see the kids out an extra day than deal with the headaches of trying to get them home in the middle of the day when parents may not even realise the kids are being let out...

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

And here we had kids staying overnight in schools and 16-year-olds trying to drive home on ice because they waited until noon while the snow was falling to let school out.

I'd much rather see the kids out an extra day than deal with the headaches of trying to get them home in the middle of the day when parents may not even realise the kids are being let out...

+1

[tarcone]

We had a bad weather situation about 4 years ago. Half the staff and students were out of school because of the weather. I totaled my car trying to get to school.
That superintendent has since left and the new one, who is hypersensitive to the community, calls school when it needs to be. But he does it in the morning after he and the maintenance guy have driven a couple of the roads.

[Barkeep49]

So here I am at school. The roads were surprisingly good, the driveway from my home and into the parking lot were very bad. My car also did not appreciate climbing the necessary hill to get into the parking lot, but otherwise my drive was uneventful. I've talked to the Middle School secretary who informed me that a 1/3 of the staff will be absent. I really can't wait to see how many kids show for this half day.

[Passacaglia]

Good idea deciding not to ride your bike.

[Draft Dodger]

fwiw, school was canceled today and there isn't a flake of snow on the ground. we're supposed to get a big storm later today and thousands of homes in the area have been without power for a week, so there are extenuating circumstances.

still, really bummed because my daughter's preschool Christmas concert was postponed because of it.

[TroyF]

You don't close school due to a forecast. You also don't tell people school will be open based on a forecast. You get your ass out of bed at 5 AM and look at the weather.

You also don't send out a ridiculous email that makes it sound like school will be open even if the mother of all blizzards hits. What a complete jack ass. Skys? Really. Good Lord.

[stevew]

Half days of school are fuckin stupid. Like iit or not, the schools are also a de facto sitting service for working parents. Every half day you have to make alternative plans or miss out on work. Hell. My daughters pre K has half days that are from 830 to 11(the normal time is 2). I don't see the fuckin point in that and have just kept her home. Unless they wEre having a party or something

[JediKooter]

What is this 'snow' you people keep talking about?

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by JediKooter

What is this 'snow' you people keep talking about?

[Hurst2112]

Originally Posted by stevew

Half days of school are fuckin stupid. Like iit or not, the schools are also a de facto sitting service for working parents. Every half day you have to make alternative plans or miss out on work. Hell. My daughters pre K has half days that are from 830 to 11(the normal time is 2). I don't see the fuckin point in that and have just kept her home. Unless they wEre having a party or something

It's politics. Back in my day (and they still may do the same now) if you canceled after 12:30, the school didn't have to make up the time. Some strange reason like that.

I lived out in the sticks and a lot of times, the roads were drifted really bad. Buses couldn't make it. School must have determined days off in conjunction with the bus company's ability to bring kids in.

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by Hurst2112

It's politics. Back in my day (and they still may do the same now) if you canceled after 12:30, the school didn't have to make up the time. Some strange reason like that.

I lived out in the sticks and a lot of times, the roads were drifted really bad. Buses couldn't make it. School must have determined days off in conjunction with the bus company's ability to bring kids in.

My school for K-8 was the only rural school in an otherwise urban district and the attention to the roads in our area versus the city were completely different. It took them years to catch on and amazed us all one day by finally canceling classes at our school but not for the rest of the district.

The all-time genius move was when we had an arctic coldfront come through and temperatures were around -15 below with 20-40 mph winds. At those temperatures, bad things happen to diesel school buses. More than half the district's buses stalled out from gelled fuel. After about three hours of nonsense, they took the buses that were running and sent them to get the kids on the stalled buses and take them home. The unlucky few who actually made it to school had to wait until those buses finished their work and came back to get the people who made it to school.

Given the way school district's around here operate, I'm stunned at your district's decision. Around here, they generally cancel school anymore if it's going to be too cloudy.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by stevew

My daughters pre K has half days that are from 830 to 11(the normal time is 2). I don't see the fuckin point in that and have just kept her home. Unless they wEre having a party or something

Some pre-K programs are scheduled half-day only anyway, so it's less out of the ordinary for that level in my experience.

The one noticeable benefit I've seen with half-days is that they act as a sort of mental health day for a lot of students. That's one thing that my son misses from the past two years at this previous school, one regularly scheduled half day per week.

[tarcone]

If we feed the kids lunch it counts as a full day even if we get out at 12:30. We make up full days we miss but not 1/2 days.

[SnowMan]

Cancelling school for snow? I dunno how you all live in America...