Sunday, February 14, 2010

Ready for School on Tuesday?

Author:
My wife & I are definitely ready for school to begin again on Tuesday morning. The snow storms have been wonderful in their own way, giving us beauty, breaking our routines, challenging our assumptions and bringing us closer.

The streets of our neighborhood are still questionable, and I understand from emails coming in from Loudoun's rural west that there are some roads that will still keep kids from school this week. The Superintendent sent out an important message this evening to all parents:
That said we know that we will still encounter unusual conditions that will prevent some of our students from attending school. If we wait until all of those conditions are cleared we would not return to school for another week, at least. Some roads will remain blocked and many, if not most, suburban sidewalks will continue to be covered by feet of ice and snow. The situation means that we will all have to work together to open schools as safely as possible. Of course in every instance it is the responsibility of parents to determine what is safe for their own children.
I like the personal responsibility aspect of this message. Be sure to also see the full-length message on the LCPS home page, which lists several things that we all can do to make this week's operations safer and more smooth.

I'll be at the LCPS admin building all day on Tuesday, monitoring the progress of the day and preparing for our evening meeting. Be sure to comment, Tweet or post on Facebook your experiences with this first day back.

8 comments:

  1. Someone should get sacked...or at least reprimanded and demoted for the pathetic snow removal planning and after-the-snow response. I suggest the Superintendent get called before an open public hearing so school board members can question him on the schools response to the snow. The Superintendent's numerous voice mail messages follow by the school principals were an apology disguised as leadership . Nobody can plan/budget for this much snow BUT the fact that schools are trying desperately -- on the last day before school starts up again -- to shovel off sidewalks, is an embarrassing display of poor planning, lack of commitment, etc. How many teachers do I need to see on Facebook bragging about their week long vacation of relaxing and catching up on their chores before you call them in to shovel the sidewalks. How much did the paid vacation add up to? 35k salary equals $875 a week. Multiplied by 6,000 teachers and administrators? We have the best schools in the state but this is a stain on the school system's reputation.
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  2. Anonymous, I don't think you read Dr. Hatrick's message correctly. In his message he stated that some roads, many sidewalks and school bus stop areas in the community would not be cleared of snow making it dangerous for students to get to school. The schools are not responsible for the conditions of the streets and sidewalks in the community. He asked for the communities to assist in clearing those areas. Not the schools.

    Take a ride by any school and you will see that the staff has done a fantastic job clearing the roads and sidewalks leading to the school. This required many long hours on the part of LCPS staff to make sure that the schools are safe to open tomorrow. They should be congratulated for their yeomen’s effort!
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  3. Anon--Right On! And while we are at it, why don't we demand that the school children bring their shovels and snowblowers and help with the snow removal. After all, they are the ones who will be using the sidewalks to get to school. Ah yes, the parents! They will be using the roads to drive their children to school so why shouldn't they be out there shoveling the roadways so that the buses have enough clearance to not only drive down the road, but open the doors so students can climb aboard. And then will all be right again in your world so you can continue to sneak around facebook and judge people based on comments posted?
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  4. why is loudoun county having a one hour delay while EVERY OTHER county around us is on a 2 hour delay or CLOSED! Some parents do work and cannot "supervise" the bus stops as directed. Most parents will be driving their kids- even though we were told not to. High schoolers will be driving even though we were told NOT to let them. And now that the fed is on a 2 hour delay the "rush hour" of last Friday will be repeated tomorrow-- only worse! What a mess.
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  5. I think we should have school on the next 10 Saturdays to make up the time that was missed because of the snow.
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  6. I think LCPS has handeled this unusual situation very well and I have no complaints.
    School on Saturday? You must not have any children in school.
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  7. I do have kids in school. What is wrong with having school on Saturday? After all, doesn't education come first?
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  8. Anonymous #1, you are ridiculous. At least us teachers were able to do some planning at home. It would have been more appropriate for you to have expected the administrators or all those central office employees to be out there shoveling. I'm sorry you were so jealous of the snow days. Perhaps you could become a teacher? Or a federal employee as they had off most of the week as well?
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