Weather Related School Closures
- Thread starter Jdeere562
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schools were on a 2 hour delay this morning for weather. It was 36 F and raining. Cannot make up what it is like living in Richmond, VA - every day you think you have seen the dumbest thing possible - but then someone goes and tops it. The AM radio station that I listen to on my way to work this morning was discussing why schools would be on a delay because of rain, they theorized that it was because of the possibility of lawsuits. Guess they could be correct....
This.
I remember being a commuter going to college in ~2010 and the school never closed. Even when the conditions were pretty bad. Then they had a few commuter students get into bad wrecks right off campus and die, and now they close a lot more often.
I worked in a lot of school districts and the common theme was no matter what people won't be happy. Close school when there is 2" of snow and some people complain and say they used to walk to school in the blizzard of '78. Others will whine when the school is open because it is raining too hard.
With the ability for many schools to do remote learning, why risk a weather related incident and be on the hook for a potential lawsuit? When I'm driving to work on a snow day as an essential employee the last thing I want and the plow drivers want is to have to dodge sliding school busses.
With the ability for many schools to do remote learning, why risk a weather related incident and be on the hook for a potential lawsuit? When I'm driving to work on a snow day as an essential employee the last thing I want and the plow drivers want is to have to dodge sliding school busses.
My 6th grader has been off the past 3 days. We didn't get pounded too bad where I live, but a few miles north got 5+ feet. Everybody panics now. I don't know if it has to do with the news forecasts a week in advance, or the school districts fear of repercussions from the parents. I've lived in this area my whole life and things have changed in regards to this.
They were so panicked at work last weekend about shifts not being able to get covered that they had me book a hotel room around the corner on their dime for two nights. Don't mind if I do fellas. LOL
They were so panicked at work last weekend about shifts not being able to get covered that they had me book a hotel room around the corner on their dime for two nights. Don't mind if I do fellas. LOL
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You also need to remember that everyone has a different scenario. Some roads don't get plowed till later, etc. So you don't want those people trying to make it. Also, getting kids home can be a major problem if weather changes.
A decade ago we had the "1000 year flood. Our neighborhood was fine. Other neighborhoods couldn't get out of theirs - washed out culverts, etc - and all the bridges over the river were blocked off so depended on what side you started.
A decade ago we had the "1000 year flood. Our neighborhood was fine. Other neighborhoods couldn't get out of theirs - washed out culverts, etc - and all the bridges over the river were blocked off so depended on what side you started.
I think the news media likes to blow everything out of proportion. Every winter has become "the big one we'll be telling our grandkids about". The evening news leads off with 40 minutes of live coverage about the storm, with reporters on the streetcorner where there's just 2" of snow falling.
SW Ontario, Canada here. I am pretty sure our school buses are immortal and bus drivers' veins filled with the same ice they are navigating over. There has not been one day yet cancelled due to anything. In fact, my two teenage daughters have been waiting for the bus each morning in -16C (Googled: 3F); only vaguely aware that they are not wearing coats. I am convinced the Miami Dolphins are going to sign them both.
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We don't have snow days here . Well , maybe once every few years . Ice is the main concern and of course torrential rain storms . It doesn't take much for the school system to call it off due to weather concerns . It's humorous reading all of the FB posts by the Moms talking about how they aren't sending their " babies " out in the cold , etc.
I swear I don't ever remember staying home from school due to the weather unless it was a hurricane .
I swear I don't ever remember staying home from school due to the weather unless it was a hurricane .
This is definitely it. Just look at all the people clogging up the grocery stores the day before a storm. All of them ironically driving Subarus and 4x4s and will probably be out in the storm anyway. You can thank the lawyers for everything else.
I remember when I was a kid we had to walk 3 miles to school up hill both ways. 
We've been closed 4 days. 2 for snow and the other 2 for sub zero temps. My school had a broken water pipe during the closures due to the building heat not being on/working properly. There is no need for kids to be walking to school or standing at a bus stop when it is below zero. Not all kids have access to warm clothing.
Nope, because the teachers are enjoying their days off.
I think they take a "use 'em or lose 'em" attitude sometimes although in our case, we're in a rural area and while our neighborhood streets are 100% fine, I know there are some 1-lane or 1-1/2 lane country roads that never get plowed, have drifting snow, and so on that they have to deal with too.
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Have been closed all week in the Nashville area. We got double our yearly average snowfall in abt 24 hrs. Snowmageddon! Haha. The initial snow wasn't really the issue, it's the lack of plows/salt trucks that kills us. The interstates were all clear day Tuesday. Good luck getting to them! Add some negative overnight temps after 20s and sun during the days, turns what remains into ice. Then we got some freezing rain and more snow overnight. A real mess...lol
JHZR2
Staff member
They closed here due to an anticipated 2.6”. Stupid. We live in a walking district, and the Main Street is still bare, though the side streets get plowed and covered again. Beautiful snow, really, but a school day off wasn’t needed. Save it for the 8-12” snows we get.
Most schools started introducing "e-days" well before Covid. At least in Ohio, schools were allowed "X" number of "calamity" days with no make-up required. Of course, they'd use those and then there would be snow or (extreme) cold, etc later where they needed to close. Back then, you then had to make-up those days at the end of the year and everyone hated that. So they came up with e-days or school-from-home or remote-learning. That's continued through Covid. Schooling during Covid was an entirely different animal though. E-days were typically watch a lesson video, do a worksheet or something and the kids could do it whenever they wanted (at least before midnight). During Covid, the teachers needed to re-learn how to do Zoom-based teaching, where they sat or stood in a room in their home "live" while kids did the same.
They have to work on snow days here. I think they get 1 day where they don't have to work.Nope, because the teachers are enjoying their days off.
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