Monday, February 8, 2010

Will there be school this week?

Author:
When it snows, the kids in my neighborhood always ask me if there will be school tomorrow. My own kids have learned to stop asking me, because I almost always say "yes" on basic principle. They already know that Loudoun schools are closed on Monday & Tuesday, but they're asking me about the rest of the week. I'm telling them I'm sure that schools will be open. But between us adults...

On Tuesday night we're looking at another snow event, possibly with more than 8 inches of snow, which would by itself probably close school for a day. So chances are, there won't be school on Wednesday. As for Thursday & Friday, here are some of the challenges that our community is facing to ensure that all kids can get to school safely:
  • All sidewalks that kids use to walk to school must be clear
  • All bus stops that kids wait at must be clear
  • All school parking lots and walks must be clear, and with a snowfall this size much of it must be relocated off site, not just pushed aside.
  • Buses require more clearance to turn than most vehicles, so intersections must be much more clear than you & I need to get to the grocery store

Given that VDOT crews haven't even started on neighborhoods roads yet, much less sidewalks, and facing another significant snowfall in two days, we may be facing a week-long school closing.

I'm keeping up with the progress on the roads through the Loudoun County Traffic blog, with great information like this:

The hundreds of 4x4 pickup trucks VDOT uses in northern Virginia subdivisionsbfor a typical four- to six-inch storm are inadequate to handle the frozen andbcompacted, deep snow covering most neighborhoods. Snow drifts in some areas arebeven higher than the subdivision plows. Interstate trucks are too large to fit through neighborhoods, so crews are using special equipment such as graders, bucket loaders, tandems and backhoes. This is a very slow and cumbersome process.
So break out those board games, find some good books and arrange rotating playdates. It might be a while before the big yellow buses are traversing the roads again.

But don't tell my kids.

Update at 1:30pm: It's official. All Loudoun County Public Schools are closed until February 16th. See the Superintendent's message on the LCPS home page.

17 comments:

  1. Who clears the sidewalks and the bus stops? I have been shoveling the bus stops these past few years for our kids in the neighborhood. Not sure if I'm reading this correctly but does the county do this? I'd love it if they did because I find that kids tend to stand on what's cleared; in this case it's the street. I've even offered up my minivan as a safe alternative (if I can race back from dropping my youngest off at school on time!). Faced with the fact that perhaps we may open school this week (or not who knows?) I'm off to shovel a spot for the kids to stand on! Let's see if I can recruit some neighbors too!
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  2. Thanita... from the Superintendent's message:

    "As we prepare to re-open schools on Tuesday, February 16, the day after the scheduled President’s Day holiday, we will need additional help from Loudoun’s citizens in clearing sidewalks for the more than 20,000 students who walk to and from school each day. We also are counting on community assistance to clear bus stops for students to wait to board buses."
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  3. Question: Why not open for President's Day as Fairfax County will be to help offset the amazing amount of time lost?
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  4. Thanks John I saw that later! My husband (on the board of our HOA) had to call in a bobcat from our landscaper to clear out the snow from the bus stop. There was too much snow of us and our wimpy shovels!
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  5. Why doesn't LCPS have snow routes for use after major storms? Other counties in the region have such routes. These would allow adjusting away from routes that require a bus to turn around in cul-de-sacs.

    I suggest the school board and superintendent need to start publicly discussing a plan now to make up the lost days. The obvious choice is to cancel spring break.
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  6. Loudoun County has built extra time (30 minutes, I think)into every school day. Therefore, we would have to miss quite a few days before we would be required to make up lost education hours to equal the minimum number of instructional hours mandated by the state of Virginia. I hope the teachers and staff enjoy this "backwards raise" since it's probably the only one you all will get for awhile.
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  7. According to the Wash Post this morning, Loudoun has 15 snow days built into the schedule so we won't have to make up any days until we max out that. Although we are up to, what, 9 or 10 already?
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  8. 15 snow days built in? If that is true, it's ridiculous. Districts in the snow belt generally don't come close to that amount in their schedules.

    Something is seriously wrong with the school calendar if we can miss 15 days and still meet the minimum requirement.
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  9. Here's an email I just received from LCPS:

    "Loudoun County Public Schools doesn't have snow days.

    Here is the reason why:
    The Commonwealth of Virginia requires that schools provide a minimum 990 hours of instructional time each school year with each school day being at least 5.5 hours in length. School divisions are required to have a plan for making up a total of 15 days missed because of bad weather or other emergencies.

    For 2009-2010, Loudoun County Public Schools will operate on a 180-day instructional calendar. Because the length of the instructional day in LCPS exceeds the 5.5 hour minimum, the 15 required are covered in the established school calendar.

    Loudoun County has had this policy governing the calendar since 1990. The fixed calendar means that days missed for inclement weather will not cause truncated vacations, Saturday classes, lengthened school days, or changes in graduation dates.

    Families are able to set their calendars a full year ahead around the fixed dates."

    Most years, in other words, your children are getting 12-15 extra days of school for "free." Teachers don't get paid for the extra time if there are no snow days, so most years. Loudoun County parents are getting a real bargain!
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  10. Then why does my local elementary school not have extended days? School is supposed to start at 7:50 in the morning but the buses are still unloading. In the afternoon, school should be out at 2:35. The buses pull out from the school before 2:30 with full loads of kids on them.

    When I was in school back in the Stone Age, if school started at 7:50, that meant you had to be at your desk, bottom in your chair. At the end of the day, the bell rang at 2:35 which meant then you went and got your coat and made your way out to the bus which left 10 minutes after school was out.

    My kids aren't getting anything close to an extended day.
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  11. @Anonymous, 8:18 p.m. If you read the letter I posted, you will see that the state requires that the school day must be 5.5 hours in length. LCPS students are in school from 7:50 to 2:20, which is 6.5 hours. That's the explanation for the extra hour that accumulates over time into 15 snow days.
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  12. Anonymous @ 7:31 9 Feb - I am hoping your comments about a "real bargain" for the "extra" hours of class time are written in jest. Otherwise I see why you choose to remain anonymous with that kind of thinking.

    We already don't get enough instructional time for our kids in the current calendar. To assert that losing almost two weeks from the school calendar so far this year is not a problem shows a serious lack of perspective on the problems with our education system in general.

    I really don't care how long this policy has been in place. It looks like it needs a full review. For the district to assert it is more important to let families plan for vacations than it is to actually teach the kids exposes some really flawed thinking.
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  13. To Anonymous at 9:46...

    Let's take out the non-instructional time like lunch and recess and all the time the kids at my school aren't receiving instruction such as the first 15 minutes of every school day when they are still getting off the bus and the 15 minutes it takes to get the kids ready to leave the school before the bus leaves ten minutes before the official end of the school day. No one is getting 6.5 hours of instructional time a day.
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  14. I think we desperately need to revisit this flawed thinking - especially for the most at-risk kids in our community.

    I have a child with a disability who receives special education services. She still has not recouped the gains she made before the winter break, showing regression. Almost all kids show regression after a break but ours take a lot longer to recoup those losses. Add in another two week break followed very shortly thereafter by another week long spring break and she'll be lucky to recoup before the end of the school year. I'm not pulling this out of thin air. Instead, I'm making this statement based upon reams of data on this child going back to when she was 2.

    For kids like her (and there are MANY of them in the county), it's not the length of the school day but the consistency of delivery of services - breaks have the most detrimental impact on their education.

    This is also true of kids without disabilities who are already behind in academic areas - the impact just isn't as dramatic.

    I really feel sorry for my daughter's teachers whenever school resumes. Their jobs have been made much more difficult because of this break.

    In reality though, it's my daughter and others like her who will be dramatically impacted. They are not receiving FAPE (free and appropriate public education) - any system that puts vacations ahead of education is not providing an appropriate education to the students in its care.
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  15. To Anonymous @ 6:12...

    Let's not forget about the last 2 weeks of school that should not count as instruction time because testing is done and it's basically party time!
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  16. Some of us actually teach until exams start in June because some of us give a final exam.

    Profe
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  17. students in my class must be ready for the school day at 7:50- this means in their seats and ready to learn. My kids are dismissed at 2:30 and I teach up to that point. Agreed that some teachers end their day at 2:15 but not my class. I am usually reading to them at the end of the day.. which we then discuss. I take EVERY minute possible to teach my kids!
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