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Snow

Deacon923 said:
I question how much litigation avoidance is part of the issue here. I mean, north of the Mason Dixon buses are running on ice, high school kids are driving on snow, and kids are presumably walking on ice and snow and throwing slushballs all winter and I haven't heard of any crippling slushball lawsuits. I guess somebody could always argue that the standard of care in the South is different than the standard of care in Buffalo NY but I hope the court system is not that far gone yet.

Here's the News & Record article which is not terribly clear on the justification for closing schools today but seems to have something to do with not being able to clear the ice from the school parking lots plus heating systems not being able to keep buildings warm enough. http://www.news-record.com/news/schools/schools-face-issues-as-temperatures-dip/article_06f7f610-b8ac-11e4-844b-3f1b1d1ed39d.html
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I was in a "discussion" on FB with a pro-closing fan. She said the schools aren't equipped to deal with winter weather since we don't get it in the south. I said that with the number of days we missed this year and last year, perhaps our schools should re-calibrate expectations for the new normal.
 
I am not an expert on the issue of school closings but I seem to remember in the last 2 years or so a kid from Reagan died driving to school in bad conditions. I understand parents who are angry with closings because it forces them to make other arrangements for childcare and can screw up their schedules, but when compared to the loss of actual human life I think those are small inconveniences that can be overcome with a little extra effort.
 
StopMakingSense said:
I am not an expert on the issue of school closings but I seem to remember in the last 2 years or so a kid from Reagan died driving to school in bad conditions. I understand parents who are angry with closings because it forces them to make other arrangements for childcare and can screw up their schedules, but when compared to the loss of actual human life I think those are small inconveniences that can be overcome with a little extra effort.
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Did the kid die in a bus? Everyone should have access to a bus.
 
StopMakingSense said:
I am not an expert on the issue of school closings but I seem to remember in the last 2 years or so a kid from Reagan died driving to school in bad conditions. I understand parents who are angry with closings because it forces them to make other arrangements for childcare and can screw up their schedules, but when compared to the loss of actual human life I think those are small inconveniences that can be overcome with a little extra effort.
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But how is that different than a kid getting into a wreck driving in the rain, or because of bright sunshine, or whatever? If the vast majority of roads are clear and kids can get to school without issue, then just go with it. You're never going to account for every variable.
 
I think the problems stems from county-wide school systems. Conditions can be vastly different from one side of the county to the other, but there is no option to close only a few schools in an area. Switching over to smaller school districts would help solve that problem. It would probably not work for a number of other reasons, but what can you do?
 
redwing42 said:
I think the problems stems from county-wide school systems. Conditions can be vastly different from one side of the county to the other, but there is no option to close only a few schools in an area. Switching over to smaller school districts would help solve that problem. It would probably not work for a number of other reasons, but what can you do?
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Yeah, the affluent neighborhoods would have their own little enclave of really good schools.
 
2&2 Slider To Leyritz said:
But how is that different than a kid getting into a wreck driving in the rain, or because of bright sunshine, or whatever? If the vast majority of roads are clear and kids can get to school without issue, then just go with it. You're never going to account for every variable.
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I 100% agree. I am not exactly pro school closings but I am trying to play devil's advocate here. Although, I do believe driving on icy roads is a little bit different than some other variables.
 
Liquid Karma said:
Yeah, the affluent neighborhoods would have their own little enclave of really good schools.
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And we don't want really good schools. Anything but that. If we had that, then we could identify the problems at the other schools and actually solve them. Better to dilute the problems by bussing the symptoms of those problems around town, spreading it all around real thin-like so nobody notices. Yeah....let's do that.
 
redwing42 said:
I think the problems stems from county-wide school systems. Conditions can be vastly different from one side of the county to the other, but there is no option to close only a few schools in an area. Switching over to smaller school districts would help solve that problem. It would probably not work for a number of other reasons, but what can you do?
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it's different up here for a variety of reasons, but there are a couple counties that split themselves up and have their calendars set slightly differently to allow for more school days in the areas that traditionally get worse weather. Baltimore County is like that where the northern half generally has worse conditions than the southern half so they operate with a slightly different schedule to allow for a little more time off due to weather and call things differently.
 
Part of the problem for WSFCS is the school choice option has basically eliminated neighborhood schools. I live next to Reynolds High and the roads here are fine. But the school has students coming from all over the county and if they live out of the assigned attendance zone, they are responsible for their own transportation. Teenagers don't know how to drive on snow and ice. It's a flaw in the system that leads the administration to be overly cautious when deciding to close the schools.
 
redwing42 said:
I think the problems stems from county-wide school systems. Conditions can be vastly different from one side of the county to the other, but there is no option to close only a few schools in an area. Switching over to smaller school districts would help solve that problem. It would probably not work for a number of other reasons, but what can you do?
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There are like 20+ school districts in Erie County NY, which definitely allows for more schools to stay open during severe weather. Also creates pressure where some districts won't close unless so many bordering districts also close.

I don't have kids but I don't think parents' convenience should be very high on the list of concerns for WSFCS in these situations. 1) student safety 2) staff safety 3) school calendar and fiscal impact. The job of a school district is to educate children, not necessarily minimize parents' use of PTO in their own jobs.
 
bym051d said:
Did the kid die in a bus? Everyone should have access to a bus.
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WSFCS offers some (more advanced) high school courses at the Career Center. I could be wrong, but I think kids are on their own for that transportation.

I'm sure we have some Career Center parents who can weigh in...
 
Just curious but if i get in a wreck driving to work on ice, can I sue my employer?
 
Dkin said:
WSFCS offers some (more advanced) high school courses at the Career Center. I could be wrong, but I think kids are on their own for that transportation.

I'm sure we have some Career Center parents who can weigh in...
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I teach at Career Center. We offer a bus from each home school for our 1st period which starts at 8. Buses are also available to & from each home school for a morning session (2nd - 4th period, 9:14 - 11:36) as well as an aftn session (6th - 8th period, 12:45 - 3:10). With this set up, students can rely on buses for 1 class or up to 4 in the AM & or 3 in the aftn. If students have their own transportation then they can take as few or as many as they'd like.
 
deacs1995 said:
Just curious but if i get in a wreck driving to work on ice, can I sue my employer?
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Well you can always sue them but I don't think you would win. Causation issues arise there. I think it's different with high schoolers driving though and what the underlying goals of school systems versus private employers are.
 
jccdeac said:
I teach at Career Center. We offer a bus from each home school for our 1st period which starts at 8. Buses are also available to & from each home school for a morning session (2nd - 4th period, 9:14 - 11:36) as well as an aftn session (6th - 8th period, 12:45 - 3:10). With this set up, students can rely on buses for 1 class or up to 4 in the AM & or 3 in the aftn. If students have their own transportation then they can take as few or as many as they'd like.
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What do you teach? Maybe a handful of people on here had you. Took 6-8 classes there in 2007/08 if you were there at that time?
 
That's wild, small world. I took Environmental Science there senior year and was in the classroom adjacent to y'all. Can't for the life of me remember the teacher's name. Very monotone, interesting guy. Kodak, Koschak? Something like that maybe?

I took physics there with McMurray and was probably the worst person at science to ever take that class.
 
Koschak was your APES teacher. He only does AP Chem now which is good since that is much more of his background. McMurray moved to School of the Arts & just retired recently, I believe.
 
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