Does anyone else join me in growing frustration with how local schools are handling school closure decisions?
Monday, the private school my kids attend closed along with the Edmonds school district in which it sits. The roads weren't that bad, but there were some problem areas. Fine.
Tuesday, closed again. By mid-morning, side roads were in pretty good shape. Arterials a-ok. School closure decision: not fine.
Today, closed yet again. A quick check outside the Earling family abode just north of Lynnwood proper shows no new ice having formed last night, and many a dry swath of road. This in the area around the 164th St. exit, which I've learned in roughly 30 years of living in south Snohomish County is among the first neighborhoods in that geographical area to show the signs of cold weather.
There better be some more snow before this evening to make this closure worthwhile. Mr. Earling wants his kids in school today based on the weather conditions. Can we compromise? How about 2 hours late?
Please?
To be fair, private schools tend to make closure decisions following the lead of the local school district, and the Edmonds School District has been closed the last three days (like many other districts). And I'm sure assorted district officials around the Puget Sound area have their reasons. But this is getting ridiculous.
Goldy, we agree for once.
P.S. After composing this semi-grumpy post, I decided to conduct a little experiment. I just drove the 7.8 mile round trip between my house and the kids' school, even driving into the vacant and relatively ice free school parking lot. The trip involves arterials and side roads, plus hills and inclines of assorted intensity. The road conditions?
Bone dry.
UPDATE: A private school one block away from my kids' school is running 2 hours late today.
Grrr.
Posted by Eric Earling at November 29, 2006 07:49 AM | Email ThisJust because you could drive there easy, doesn't mean everyone else would be able to.
So go whine at HA, that is what they seem to be good at.
Posted by: eric on November 29, 2006 07:54 AMThen again, my kids can also pass the math WASL. They are now waiting to find out when if they will miss our planned family summer vacation because they will be in school making up snow days.
And the overall cultural tone is definitely a product of the left which dominates most media, cultural and and artistic outlets. And in this state, they dominate the government as well.
Buck-up people. I grew up in the ice storms of Portland. This is nothing.
Posted by: Jeff B. on November 29, 2006 08:33 AMAdd Seattle's (and Edmonds) steep hills with ice and I can see their reasons.
Add buses needing chains for their trips is another reason. I think it best most people just chill out and keep traffic off the roads.
Posted by: swatter on November 29, 2006 08:45 AMDriver's Ed is symbol of the entire education system. Students are taught to point the vehicle down the road, zero driving skills. Judging by the number of drivers I've seen with chains on the rear wheels of their front wheel drive car, the number who think spinning the tires at high speed will melt through the ice the 40% drivers who think 10 mph is a reasonable speed, combined with the 40% with 4 wheel drive who think 4 wheel drive provides exemptions from the laws of physics.
Add in the whiners who think a couple hundred bucks is an unreasonable fee for abandoning a car in the middle of freeway and be the cause of hundreds of thousands if not millions in losses.
I am driving rear wheel drive, with all season radials and have had zero problems, hills, stops, starts... but I was taught more than pointing my vehicle down the road, I was to taught to DRIVE. I hesitate to go because of the idiot who came closest to hitting me, 4 wheel drive, chains on all 4 sliding sideways through a red light.
Posted by: JCM on November 29, 2006 09:01 AMI agree with Jeff B. a snow day sans snow is a byproduct of the left for the reasons Jeff B. stated.
Doug-
The snow days that my daughter has made-up over the years have been half days. I don't know the exact cut off, but like the 2 hour delay, the make-up half days count as full days. Rediculous!
If parents feel it's not safe or in the best interest for their kids to go to school today, then they can make that decision to keep them home.
Posted by: Dengle on November 29, 2006 09:06 AMMy goodness- what is going to happen here when something really goes wrong? How are we ever going to cope?
The driving stunts shown on the air by the local TV stations illustrates the stupidity-- I can't go on it makes me ill.
Posted by: cardio on November 29, 2006 09:24 AMthe school my kids go too is maybe 5 miles down the road, but most the teachers live anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour normal drive time away. So who knows what the conditions may be like in the areas where your kids teachers live.
The way I look at this is to make the best of it. I have spent the past 2 and now a 3rd day actually teaching my children some of the things about history and how the government works that they will never learn in a public school.
Posted by: TrueSoldier on November 29, 2006 09:42 AMNo wonder you're afraid of a little snow and ice. You should emulate us -- send your kids out into the blizzards with strict orders to show up at school and do the grocery shopping on the way home: white bread, whole milk, Country Crock and bologna. Put some hair on their little chests and start em on the road to hyperglycemia!
Posted by: Rey Smith on November 29, 2006 09:54 AMDriving around after commute hours and the sun comes out is not much of a test.
I went to school on a day much like today some 25 years ago. The school was located on the top of a hill. School bus went up the hill, hit a patch of ice, and slid down the hill. No one was hurt, sure scared the heck out of all of us on the bus. That was in the 80's, today some overzealous parent would likely sue the school dist. and the bus company for their kids emotional distress.
School fear lawsuits, anything they can do to get out of one is a big factor in decision making.
A few years ago, the day after Christmas vacation, it was 18 below with 12 inches of snow on the ground. As usual, school was on time.
Posted by: Tom Forbes on November 29, 2006 10:09 AMThis is not a big deal, but when we don't teach people how to take basic personal responsibility and situational awareness, this is what we get.
The guy across the street from me got into a 70s era American truck with bald tires and no weight in the bed and proceeded to try and take a left turn on a slick side street at 25 MPH. He came with inches of crashing into a parked car, and then promptly put it into reverse and had the tires spinning for minutes on end. When he finally got the vehicle moving again, he continued his way down the block spinning and losing control, etc. This guy lives the welfare state life. He's been coddled so long, he doesn't have a respect for anything, including the basics of driving and driving in adverse conditions.
Pathetic.
Posted by: Jeff B. on November 29, 2006 10:16 AMOur private school was in session Monday, I was concerned about the morning drive and was hoping for a late start. A high school in southeast King County, we have minimul bus service. Some kids are carpooled by adults, but many drive themselves from a larger geographic area than public schools.
We live in rural SE King County. I ventured out yesterday between 3:30 and 5:15pm to the post office and market. The highway was bare and dry, and so were the side roads exposed to direct sunlight. But any shaded areas (of which we have many, especially around the school) were the original sheet of compact ice. Anything not dry was already starting to freeze by 3:30. Sooo...while I would have been happy with a late school start, I'm going to trust the district superintendant's judgment on this one. Although it's not a large high school, sending all those young, inexperienced drivers out onto uncertain road conditions is scary. If I was really concerned, I would contact the Superintendant and we would have a nice discussion about it....I AM the customer. Actually he is very nice, and probably made the correct decision for our local road conditions.
Stress over make up days? Not yet, our students attend a longer school day, so we have a small buffer before make up days are required. Even with some make-up days, our students will begin summer break before mid June.
Our college student in Seattle had a late start (less 1st period class)on Monday, Tuesday classes cancelled, and a late start again Wednesday. She's starting to worry about missing that 1st period class several times with finals starting in just a week.
My snow story...about 12 years ago we wintered in Okanogan County (No. Central Wash), in one of the small outlaying communities. They typically have snow on the ground from Thanksgiving to Easter, it just keeps accumulating. Drove the daughter to Kindergarden in an early season blizzard with six inches of new snow on the ground and low visability due to continuing snowfall. Inexperienced parents that we were, forgot to check if school was even open. Surprised to find the school open and on regular schedule, I asked the school secretary "why are you open, aren't you concerned for the safety of the children"? She was sincere and not snippy, and infomed me that if they missed school every time it snowed, students would attend school all summer. If we were concerned about our students safety, we were welcome to keep her home. But if the power was on, school was open. We accumulated over 3 feet of snow that winter, hunted easter eggs in the remainig patches of snow, but didn't miss a day of school.
Posted by: dl on November 29, 2006 10:29 AMSeems like it's all relative. Maybe I'm just a little too cynical but when your school district doesn't particularly care and the union that controls the teachers doesn't either, the slightest excuse is justifiable.
Posted by: G Jiggy on November 29, 2006 10:36 AMWe attended private schools in Auburn, Federal Way and Burien which were 25 min, 35 min and 50 min drives, respectively. One of the teachers at the Fed Way school came in every day FROM EVERETT.
Also, one of the schools was on hilly property that was treacherous in icy condidtions.
I don't believe classes can be taught effectively nor children learing effectively with staff and kids popping in as they are able to get there. Furthermore, why should the kids who can't get there be punished? Those kids will be behind or the teachers will just give the kids that are there 'busy work' so that she doesn't have to RE-teach the same material to those that aren't there. Either way it's a LOSE situation.
I applaud judicious decisions to cancel classes especially since a certain number of days are already built into the schedule.
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskold on November 29, 2006 10:38 AM1. LOL
2. I do hope those lattes are made from shade-grown, fair-trade, range-fed beans. With soy milk.
Posted by: Rey Smith on November 29, 2006 10:41 AMI grew up in Wisconsin. This amount of snow is nothing compared to what is routine in a Wisconsin winter and our schools almost never closed.
Posted by: Stefan Sharkansky on November 29, 2006 10:42 AMThere is ice up to an inch thick on a lot of side roads - the arterials are not the issue, getting to them is. Is it worth wrecking your car or getting injured just to put you kid in school for an extra day or two this year?
Posted by: H Moul on November 29, 2006 10:44 AMIt's a dangerous, dangerous world out there, folks. Best to hunker down, watch CNN, and send out for pizza. (Ever notice that the pizza places NEVER shut down for bad weather? Perhaps our educational institutions should emulate the capitalistic diligence of Papa John's.)
Better yet: some enterprising entrepreneur might consider a "teacher-delivery" service.
Just so it's not Mary Jo LeTourneau...
Posted by: Rey Smith on November 29, 2006 10:53 AMHeh, heh, heh. Yep. That's the kind I'd want to dump into the street.
Posted by: RBW on November 29, 2006 11:04 AMHere, it is exceptional to get this kind of weather, so it is not given as much attention. Maybe it costs less to shut things down for a few days than to try to maintain a normal routine?
Posted by: Peggy U on November 29, 2006 11:07 AMHere, Kent East Hill, lastnight there were still plenty of spin outs and folks getting stuck at stoplights on grades.
In my neighborhood the arterials and side streets are sheet ice. The only reason people are getting around at all is because many people are staying home. If there was a full traffic load it would be mayhem.
Posted by: wash93 on November 29, 2006 11:11 AMAnd who could forget Mary KAY LeTourneau.
That important issue aside, I agree with some who indicate what a whining, weenie, feministic culture we have grown into. Rather than suck it up, prepare yourself (and your vehicle) and GIT IT DONE we hide behind the drapes, blame the weather on a lack of government funding and await the warmth of spring. GO BACK TO CALIFORNIA ALREADY.....
Posted by: Saltherring on November 29, 2006 11:14 AMWith the paltry sums we pay them, they are forced to live in “ghettos” where there is no snow removal or political will to clean the streets. So one must perceive the dilemma they face.
Besides their annual ski pass’s kick in on Thanksgiving Day ...so why not a sabbatical to study the affects of Global Warming on our local mountains and its effect on wax application on a fixed surface!!!
Posted by: Pacific Grove Phlash on November 29, 2006 11:19 AMAbout 1990 we had a heavy snowfall that started in the afternoon the day before Thanksgiving. Many children and teachers spent the night at school sleeping on the floors. Districts would rather not have to repeat that.
Posted by: Ann in Issaquah on November 29, 2006 11:21 AMI always thought dat schoolin’ is a way of keepin’ youts on ice?
Forgetaboutit
Between my home and work, that is another story. Take a drive in Northgate - 175th in Shoreline. Make sure to have all seasons and rear wheel drive. Now, exit onto any side street. 10 minutes later, after backing up onto the arterial you will have your answer. There was a small hill I was unable to drive up in 4wd with normal all seasons. I am sure a bus with chains could not have either.
There are plenty of other things to worry / whine about than an extra day. A more valuable argument might be one focused on the typical Friday 1/2 day - full days taken off at various public schools around the state every other week. I am sure aside from the educational loss, the situation presented for working parents must be challenging.
P.S. On the other hand, the snow has reduced my commute in half. Thanks Snow!
Posted by: digitalfotographer.com on November 29, 2006 12:25 PMThis is a serious question. I'm not trying to be snarky.
Posted by: DJ on November 29, 2006 12:43 PMAnyway, back to the school closure topic... I think chained school buses would have been just as safe even with the worst road conditions for today, so I think the school everywhere should have been open.
Posted by: C. Oh on November 29, 2006 03:07 PMYou missed my point by 180 degrees. Since it doesn't snow much in Seattle, people don't know how to drive in it and the government doesn't have the skills or equipment to sand/plow it quickly. Therefore a little snow or ice shuts the place down. I agree it's pathetic, but it's a combination of human nature and wise cost/benefit budgeting; I think you'll find a similar phenomenon in other places where it rarely snows.
I wonder what happens when it snows in Houston? I stand corrected if it snows a lot in some parts of Texas, but that's not my point. And of course in Colorado they are used to snow.
Posted by: Bruce on November 29, 2006 04:05 PMGreat question, and yes, that is where I work. My personal choice in schooling for my children, however, is really no great statement on WA's public schools. In the aggregate, there are lots of good schools, and many good teachers.
That being said, my wife and I chose private school for a number of reasons, prior to my current job which I started January of 2003. One of those reasons was comparing notes between my experience in K-12 private school (King's in Shoreline) v. my wife's experience in the Everett School District. The other was that when my kids started school, we didn't own our own home and were thus more mobile in the area. Now that we do own (as of February of 2005), the housing market didn't allow us to afford a home in an area where we're terribly thrilled with the local public schools, especially the junior high and high school.
In short, academics in many of the state's public schools in the state are decent to pretty good (recent math challenges aside for the 10th grade WASL). However, my wife and I prefer the non-academic benefits of private schooling to be quite compelling, especially for one of our two children.
I'm a huge believer in public education as a foundation for a healthy democracy, which is part of the reason I'm in my current job which focuses on education reform. But, private schools can also be a great option for many people too.
Posted by: Eric Earling on November 29, 2006 06:46 PMI believe Ann was referring to the November '85 cold blast that lasted (by my memory, which has faded a bit) at least a week. It was just as cold as this one, with much more snow, and lasted much longer. Somehow, people handled it better then by being prepared. Snow was also more frequent in past decades, allowing for 'refresher' courses in driving and coping with the cold. This snap was a slap in the fae for the Gen X'ers and Y'ers. They weren't so invincible in their silly little pi$$-box cars.
Posted by: Saltherring on November 30, 2006 07:21 AMOf course, where there isn't ice is usually where they have spread de-icer, which can eat away at the underside of your vehicle
Posted by: tc on December 1, 2006 05:55 AM