"Joe...
I am a school administrator and I am concerned not only for the students being transported to school tomorrow but my staff as well. Although I understand the need to have students back in school and back into routine, I do not believe that going tomorrow is a good decision. I hope Dr. Fredericksen and the BOE changes their decision."
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
28 comments:
As a fellow Wicomico County employee and teacher, I too share this concern. We all want our students in school, where we know they are safe and cared for, but I have great reservations about sending students to school given the current conditions of the roads in the outlying areas in our county. It would be nothing short of devistating should a student or staff member by injured, or God forbid, worse should we return to school in unsafe circumstances. For the parents of the county who may read this blog, take time to email the BOE members and share your concerns as it is a well known fact that this blog is frequented by them and many others.
I agree, unless it rains tonight and melts the side streets. All the streets along Riverside Dr and Moss Hill Lane are covered in thick ice. It looks as though the streets along Riverside Dr were never even touched.
I agree with this post and applaud this adminstrator for sharing his/her thoughts eventhough different from the superintendent. I am a teacher in the county as well and support and respect Dr. Fredericksen because he is my superior but I think he should rethink this decision.
Since no plows were out today, there was some thaw on the roads and maybe more tomorrow. The plows can hopefully break this ice up so it is safe on Wednesday.
Just took the dog out. My bet is they'll at least be late due to the fog that is forming.
The members of the Board of Education and the Wicomico County Council need to kick John Fredericksen to the curb and quick.
All roads in Deer Harbour are still treacherous! Snow plow never came by after the 2nd blizzard! Lots of ice, thick snow/slush which caused me to slide/fishtail several times in my car tonight. (And I was going only a couple miles per hr since my car only has front wheel drive.) Ice patches still on Union Church Rd and Oakland School Rd. When trying to make a right hand turn off Snow Hill Rd onto Beaglin Park, the turn lane is still blocked w/mounds of snow so you have to make a right hand turn from the fast lane! Also, still not a full lane on Eastern Shore Dr. near Bennett Schools due to mounds of snow left from 1st blizzard! I am a concerned parent as well.
a 2 hour delay is not going to make the buses any more safe than if they go at normal times. the back roads are terrible! i pray nothing happens to any bus or any student, or the schools are going to have some MAJOR lawsuits on their hands!!
Burnt Mill Rd in Willards (Wicomico County) is still a solid sheet of ice down the rd, not patches. Lots of ice patches on the other country roads out that way still. Sections of New Hope Rd in Willards still only have one lane open in some areas. This is very concerning. Although I want my child back in school soon, I feel for the safety of the bus drivers and children on the busses as they travel in these outlying areas.
maybe moss hill lane would be clear if the dolts didnt park all their cars on the streeeeeet. And if your going to park your car in the snow, at least get it close to the curb. i guess its section 8 over in moss hill cuz everyone is too lazy to shovel out a parking spot and get their vehicles out of the road.
My road is not clear in Harbor Point we still have 5 inches of ice my Ford F-350 has problems climbing but let me tell you the city has done a outstanding job on the Jaycees Ball park down the street. Its been clean for two days now down to blacktop. We have seen a plow twice in the last three storms out here and they put might have put ten pounds of salt down on the road this last storm....but keep in mind folks they need more of our money
If you took time to post here, send Dr. Frederickson an email and let him know how you feel.
jfrederi@wcboe.org
I agree school should be canceled for tomorrow....a lot of side streets near north salisbury/salisbury Middle are still covered in ice....
Let me just say this,a 2hr delay I believe is some help with the morning traffic,that being said,as alot of people are on thier way rushing to get to work say around between 6 to 8 am is a common time for alot of people who are headed to work as well as the school buses that are on the roads sometime in that same time-frame ok.So with that being said also,the 2hr delay allows for the majority of that traffic to simmer down quite a bit and the school buses get to start out kind of at the tail end of that crazy traffic letting it get ahead and out of the way so they dont have as much traffic to deal with as thier picking up the students,its true there isnt as much traffic then.Now mind you I also do NOT think that all the roads are as safe as they should be for the students/buses/teachers,etc... I think the BOE should atleast wait until wednesday to start back to school.This is just my way of justifying what a 2hr delay is used for in my honest opinion.If they dont cancel school tomarrow please be safe.
I'm pretty sure Dr. Frederickson doesn't make this decision on his own. I'm also a teacher and I'm also concerned but I don't think "bashing" him is the answer. I'm pretty sure the police give their input on roads etc. I think this would be easier to deal with if some logic could applied. Everyone is totally stressing because of MSA testing which is right around the corner. Is there some reason it can't be postponed a week or two? THis was extremely unusual, so do something unusual....back the test up. How very, very reasonable. Also...everyone is flipping out about "how many days" we've missed. As always, there is speculation that the days Maryland was in a state of emergency, will be days that can be excused. Great...is this true?? If so....then let's relax...take another day...back the testing up and make up the 5 days we missed and not the others. It really doesn't seem all that hard.
I drive the same roads the buses do in the county, and I would not want any child of mine in a school bus on these roads.
I agree with Fredrickson on this one. Everyone just take it easy and it will be fine.
BOE Members are not at all included in closing decisions and have no authority in this area. Like 11:17 said, the State Police and state highway administrators are consulted before a decision is made.
Its funny cause the minute they announce schools are just gonna be closed till the snow melts in 2 weeks then everyone will be singing the blues about that. Just face it, conditions are not going to dramatically improve anytime soon. Man up drive safe and get on with your life, its just a little snow.
This conversation has been so one-sided I would be almost surprised if this comment sees the light of day, even though it is completely reasonable.
I live in an area in Southern New Jersey with similar plowing/salting resources, and a comparable snow management budget.
We received roughly the same amount of snow and ice, yet our public schools have been operating successfully since Thursday of last week.
I can understand why students, teachers, and administrators are so vehemently opposed to returning to work; when I was a student, I too revolted unreasonably to the idea of returning to school, no matter the conditions of area roads. The alternative of being free to do whatever one pleases all day long is simply much more appealing than actually working or studying.
Fortunately, the central office of the Wicomico County Board of Education has some reasonable minds, led by John Frederickson, who understand that even though it is possible to see snow outside, it is reasonable to expect students to return to school, and teachers to return to the jobs they are being paid to do.
The expectation demonstrated consistently over recent weeks in this blog's comments and posts is that when many people in the Wicomico County area see snow, they expect to be free of reasonable obligations they are otherwise subject to.
Enough is enough.
Baltimore Sun
Grasmick to seek 180-day waiver
Fewer school days could harm performance on tests
February 12, 2010
State schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick will ask the state school board to waive a law requiring public school students to attend classes for 180 days this year because of closures caused by the region's record snowfall.
Grasmick has taken the step of offering a blanket statewide waiver only once in her nearly 20-year tenure - after ice storms in the mid-1990s. In other limited circumstances, the state board has allowed a small number of districts to shorten the academic calendar, Grasmick said.
"I don't take it lightly because of the instructional considerations," she said, but added, "This is historic."
Grasmick will make the request to the board in late February, but it was unclear Thursday whether the board would approve the waiver. In 1995, a divided school board reluctantly granted the waiver to every district. And after a major snowstorm in 2003, the board gave her the authority to hand out waivers, but she did not allow all school districts to use them.
By Tuesday, many students will have been out of class as long as they were during their winter holiday in late December and early January. For example, Baltimore County builds seven extra days into its school calendar in case of snow and has used all of those days. Baltimore adds days at the end of its school year for each day it closes. The city has closed eight days so far, and CEO Andrés Alonso has written to Grasmick asking for a waiver.
Closing school for so many days in a row in February could affect scores on the Maryland School Assessment in March, Grasmick said, as well as make it difficult for students to be well prepared for the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams later in the spring. The board could also move back the MSA test date.
Balt. Sun article continued
To make up for the lost school days, districts can take away holidays or part of spring break, or add to the end of the year - all options that are considered unattractive.
Grasmick said that Queen Anne's and Garrett counties have asked her to allow students to go to school on Presidents Day, which is Monday, and she has given her consent. By today, she expects several other districts to have formally made the request, although she added it might not help much because more snow is predicted for Monday.
District superintendents are considering whether to eliminate some teacher training days and shorten spring break. "It is unpopular with parents," she said, because families plan trips during the break.
Adding days to the end of the school year can be done, but some schools are not air-conditioned, and Grasmick said she doesn't want students and teachers in 100-degree classrooms in late June.
Stuck at home behind mounds of snow and hoping to see a plow soon, Grasmick said she doesn't know how many days she will recommend that schools be allowed to forgo this year until she gets into her office today and looks at each district's calendar.
Schools are required to be in session for 180 days a year, but some systems schedule longer school years. In addition, some districts were closed more days in December than others because of snow.
Grasmick said she also is in discussions with testing experts to get their opinions on exactly how many days of school students would have to miss before test scores are affected. "My worry is that our students will look as though they are not performing [as well]. Can we consider this an aberrant year?" she said.
While she could push back the testing date, she said, it would be complicated. The contractor the state hires to grade the MSAs has a small window in its schedule to do the work.
If the test was moved back, getting the results could be delayed by months and the state then could not comply with a law that says it must identify which schools are failing to meet achievement targets to the federal government.
The U.S. Department of Education can grant a waiver, but Grasmick said she wants more evidence that giving the tests in March might have a negative effect on testing.
After she has gathered more data, she said, she will go to the state's school superintendents on Feb. 19 to ask them what they would like to do. "I want to give the superintendents the best pros and cons," she said.
Even though the MSAs are expected to be replaced with a new national test by 2012, Grasmick said they do still matter, particularly as a diagnostic measure for schools, parents and school systems.
I hope and pray that this was the right decision and that all of the children and staff arrive safely and return home safely today.
I'm sure it is a tough decision, but driving around, I really didn't think Wicomico schools would be open today. The side roads even in the city (as many have already said) are horrible!
There is 3 people hired by the BOE to ride around starting at 4am to check on roads. They report their findings back to DR Fredrickson to make the call whether to close or not.
I also agree that the back roads are still bad. All I can do id pray that all of the kids make it to school safely today.
Here's an idea. Salting and plowing efficiently makes this an easier decision. How is it that other counties/towns have gotten their community schools back in session but the shore cant? If the sole reason for not having school is unplowed roads, doesnt it make sense to coordinate those roads for plowing?? We are talking about one county here that could easily communicate within itself to make sure bus routes are salted and generally safe. But instead we have the half-a$$ed shore laziness that gives kids nothing more than another reason to not get an education. I finally see why locals around here think that work is an inconvenience, the entire shore makes it that way.
People drive your own kids to school yourself instead of relying on someone else, and get these kids back to school they have missed enough. Seriously people my sister lives in south jersey where they received more snow then us and they have been in school since last week. Teachers I am sure you have all enjoyed your time off now get back to work! Everybody is so concerned about the snow but what about those poor children who receive free lunches, because their has been no school for so long they are missing out on some nutritional meals!
I live in West Nithsdale and they plowed our development 2 times and it didn't even need it the second time. They also dug up a neighbors front yard the second time as well as their irrigation system. Hugh piles of yard now sitting on top of the snow. Why did they do plowing in here 2 times???well maybe because Stevie Prettyman lives in here...What ya think? I think they should have been in other developments the second time as well as back roads that still need it.
OH and I forgot to say Dr Fredrickson lives in here too!
I saw a plow today on Brown road, plow down no salt. Whats funny is that the side has was plowing was clear. Meanwhile the other side of the road was snow covered. Leave it to the backwards shore ppl to make something as simple as snow removal a science. Not enough resources huh? How bout you use the resources available to do the job right. Typical low standard for the shore.
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