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Thursday, February 25, 2010

WILL THEY CLOSE SCHOOLS AGAIN TOMORROW?

Winter Storm Warning
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
1233 PM EST THU FEB 25 2010

DORCHESTER-WICOMICO-SOMERSET-INLAND WORCESTER-MARYLAND BEACHES-INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...CAMBRIDGE...SALISBURY...CRISFIELD...PRINCESS ANNE...SNOW HILL...OCEAN CITY
1233 PM EST THU FEB 25 2010

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 AM EST FRIDAY...

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 AM EST FRIDAY.

SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF LESS THAN AN INCH CAN BE EXPECTED FOR THE REMAINDER OF TODAY...WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR ANOTHER 1 TO 4 INCHES LATER TONIGHT THROUGH MIDDAY FRIDAY. TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 5 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE...BEFORE THE SNOW COMES TO AN END LATE FRIDAY.

IN ADDITION TO THE SNOW...SUSTAINED WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO NEAR 45 MPH WILL DEVELOP LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH FRIDAY. THESE CONDITIONS WILL REDUCE VISIBILITIES...AND MAY CAUSE WHITE OUT CONDITIONS AT TIMES.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, they need to wait and see if it snows, but if it does they need to close or people will complain that they close when it's dry and open when it snows.

Anonymous said...

ye lol

Anonymous said...

I'd like to cross-post my comment from another post:

Oh look! It's 4:23 PM! Look at all that snow we have out there!!!! I'm going to go build a snowman, oh wait, nevermind, there's no snow...

How about they cancel school when it is ACTUALLY SNOWING?! They could have certainly opened schools today and taken the gamble on possibily doing an earlier dismissal, but nope, better safe then sorry! Remember everybody, "it's for the children and their education and safety!" The BOE made its decision to close school based on weather PREDICTIONS! That's like having my friend tell me that my house is going to catch fire tonight and so to prevent it I call the fire department to come out and watch my house all night to make sure that it doesn't burn down!

Now, I know it isn't always best to be reactive in leiu of being proactive, but certain situations warrant reactiveness! The school schedule has already been crippled from the recent snow days, but today's indiscretions futher crippled it. Frederickson should have followed the precedures of a normal school day and developed a plan of action IF the snow came-be prepared for the snow, but react accordingly if the situation changed. I could understand closing schools today if we were in a different scenario that allowed it in the schedule, but that wasn't the case. Cancelling school altogether today was completely irresponsible despite his good intentions.

But don't fear, the State babies the hell out of Education so they will certainly make sure that all ends well! 180 DAYS! Students are required to get 180 days of lecture! If the State and the BOE are so hell bent on providing the best education possible then why in the world would they be willing to shorten the lecture time? Frivolous spending on education completely crippled the State and County budget, but yet they are willing to just "waive" 5 days of lecture? Looks like their priorities aren't aimed at educating...looks like accommodating teachers and staff are more important. Because let's face it, they don't care if the students didn't want to be in school later than scheduled, they simply don't want to cut into own vacation time! 5 days of lecture comes up to 35 hours of class time! When I was in college, my semesters were 14 weeks long; my 3 credit hour courses on monday, wednesday and friday were 50 minutes long so for one course I would spend 2.5 hours in the classroom each week over the 14 week semester. Add it up...that's right, 35 HOURS! Waiving these days would be the equivalent of missing lecture for an entire semester of a college course! Accepting this waiver will rob the students of Wicomico County of an Education; an education that the tax payers pay for!

Hey Frederickson! LOOK, THE SKY IS FALLING, THE SKY IS FALLING! What a fool! And to think, this guy is leading the education system that your kids are enrolled in...

That being said...I can't wait to be lying on the beach, lathered up with tanning oil and catching some rays while all those teachers and students are stuck in the classroom in August! Actually, come to think of it, it might actually work out for the teachers-the BOE might try to give teachers a salary raise or some sort of bonus for cutting into their precious summer vacation time...

Anonymous said...

u know...when they didnt close schools because the roads were still alittle icy and bad everyone complained cause frederickson should have traveled the roads and seen for him self ect ect...now that they call for a huge storm and he takes precautions and closes schools you all continue to complain....im not defending him, i think they should have went and had early dismissal if needed but my god people is all you do all day is sit here and read articles and find which ones you can cry about??? get a life. love ur blog joe but you cant win for losin on here lol.

Anonymous said...

Better not be closed...I have a few choice words for the idiot that closed them before it even snowed.

Anonymous said...

4:27,i agree completely.There's no reason school's needed to be closed today.The roads were,and still are,absolutely FINE.Maybe Frederickson should drive around the roads AND check weather radar BEFORE closing school.Because by 7:00 this morning,radar was pretty clear.But wait,that might actually make sense!Never mind,I'm being stupid,what was I thinking?Something that makes sense...hmm..

Anonymous said...

4:27 Either you went to a very lame college, or you did a whole lot more work outside of class than what K-12 students are required to do.

Another way of saying it is either you know you have an invalid argument, and are making it anyway; or you're incapable of realizing your argument is invalid.

Which is it? Either way, I'd love to know which 'college' helped to produce your style of thinking, so I can be sure to steer my kids clear of it!

Anonymous said...

Amen 4:27. At lunch today we were discussing this and mention was made that the kids only need to make up 5 off the snow days, out of what I estimate now to be 10-12, because then there is Summer School so they can't make up the remaining days. Is this true? Then someone mention "how nice" it must be to be a teacher with all these paid days off. The waitress beamed and did a little dance..."I'm going to be a teacher and I hope ever year is like this one!"

Anonymous said...

I asked a teacher about this the other day and she said that they have to make up the time to get paid
(not necessarily the same as a make up day for students). Is this true? Any teachers out there reading this thread?

Anonymous said...

Glad my kids go to school in Delaware

Anonymous said...

I am a teacher, and while I do agree that school could have been in session today, at the time that the call was made, the forecast was not looking good for the busloads of children that would be on the roads today (traveling to and from school).

Being a teacher is a very rewarding profession, and I hope that those of you reading this blog find your professions rewarding as well. I could have chosen any career path, but I chose to be a teacher. The same is true for those of you complaining about teachers. You chose the career path that you have taken. Why sit back and complain now about a choice you made?

Summers off (which really doesn't work out to be 3 months off as many people think because of workshops and trainings) is not the reason that I chose to be a teacher. Vacation time at Easter and Christmas is not the reason I chose to be a teacher. Salary and benefits is not why I chose to be a teacher. I could certainly have gone into another field and could have made more than I currently do (and I'm not complaining about my salary).

I chose to be a teacher because I love working with children. Seeing a child get excited over a book, science experiment, movie project, poem, etc. is the reason that I chose to be a teacher.

Without teachers, where would each of us be? The next time you want to complain about teachers, take a moment to thank one instead.

Anonymous said...

My son said it'll be unfair if I have to make this day up as a snow day becuase it didn't even snow.

Anonymous said...

This just in:

Al Gore has just called the Bored of Ed, which has closed school for the resty of the year due to possible global warming effects.

Anonymous said...

5:32 I don't think people are complaining about the career path they chose in as so much as that not every one want to be a government employee...thank goodness and I don't think the complaints are out of jealousy or anything else you seem to be insinuating. The issue is our tax money and where it's going and as long as teachers and schools are preforming and accountable to that performance and requirement then they should be paid what the tax payers can afford if it's fair market value. However, what is being discussed here is tax paid funding for less than the amount of education children are supposed to receive. That gets folks upset when our budgets are hurting so badly and our kids aren't getting the education they should. Goodness knows it's rough all ready in terms of measuring results of public education. I would say you maybe need to adopt the "humble servant" attitude and take off the smug entitlement hat.

You know what just happened in RI, right?

http://www.projo.com/news/content/central_falls_trustees_vote_02-24-10_EOHI83C_v59.3c21342.html

Anonymous said...

Joe , This is off the subject, Sorry. But the winds are no joke ! I just had shear wind come through my property and take out 3 Holly Trees. They were at least 40 foot tall and this wind cut them in half . Amazing!

Anonymous said...

Anon 6p.m. - Yes, I am aware of what is going on in Rhode Island.

Perhaps you misread or read some sort of tone into my response (5:32). I do not feel that I am entitled to anything. I do work hard in my position and feel that I go above and beyond the hours that I spend in school each day.

I do not feel that anyone should be jealous of me or other teachers.

Budgets are tight and they are getting tighter all the time. Of course tax payers are upset because they feel that students had a wasted day today. This has been an unusual winter and I am sure that when school is back in session it will be back to business as usual - providing top notch education to our children.


There have been comments made on this blog in reference to other feeds that I felt were "bashing teachers". My point is that everyone chose their path in life. I don't bash people because they make more money than me. I don't bash people because they take nicer vacations than I do. People shouldn't bash teachers because they have been out of school due to the weather. Most of us would rather be in school with our students.

Anonymous said...

Every single day students in Wicomico County attend school for an extra half hour. There is only one other county that does that and there are none that go longer than we do. That's 90 extra hours every school year.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 6:00 I am a teacher sir or mam. I am real sorry bout today. I's real pleased with bein you humble govt servant. I hopes when you sayen our taxes you keeps me included cause I be pay too sir or mam. Please be easy on us cause it be your perception that we be wearen them smug hats. Most a time we be thinken, you know with critics from all sides, what a humbling thing it be being a teacher and all sir or mam.

Anonymous said...

Please let it go already!Days are need to be made up, nothing is going to change that. I feel schools could have been open today but they didnt. If there was delay and then early dismissal people would be complaining about that! Grow up! And as for people complaining about school board and teachers if you think you can do better hime school your kids!

Anonymous said...

I worked in private industry for 10 years and saw the benefits teachers enjoyed. I thought, "I want some of that." So, I became a teacher and let me tell you it is no walk in the park. I wanted the weekends off, summer and winter breaks, and time off at the same time as my kids. I make a good salary and have good benefits for which I am thankful. A lot of people on here want Education to feel the pain and suffer. Trust me, you may not know it yet, but there are a lot of cuts coming in the BOE budget in the next few years. If you are upset about the lost school days, then talk to God as he brought on these historic storms this year. The BOE didn't bring these storms in, God did and the BOE is just trying to make the best out of a bad situation. I really think some of you want teaching to be so miserable that nobody will want to do the job.

Anonymous said...

6:00.....The teacher's comment doesn't insinuate a sense of entitlement at all. Teacher's don't enter the profession thinking they can live off tax payer money. Don't forget, teachers pay taxes too. Quit blaming the teachers for everything that happens in education. Anyone who is knowledgeable about education, especially decision making in education, would know that teachers have no say at all. If you want to complain about it, contact the state government instead of blaming everything on the teachers.

Anonymous said...

Wicomico Day School was open today!

Anonymous said...

7:02 people that pay taxes and get payroll and pensions off the backs of private citizens need to be more humble.

Anonymous said...

Wicomico was not the only one to close, Somerset, Worcester, and Delmar also closed. I don't think Fredericksen made the decision for them, do you?

The decision has to be made very early (4:00 - 5:00) whether to close or delay schools. At 4:00 this morning, it was still snowing in many areas and the forecasts were still calling for snow throughout the morning.

In hindsight, they were wrong but it could just as easily gone the other way. Would it have been better to send the children to school, have the storm get worse and then have to put buses on the road in heavy wind and snow in early afternoon? Some of you would have complained if that scenario had happened. It is a no-win situation.

joealbero said...

Anonymous 7:44, you're wrong. Delmar follows exactly what Wicomico County chooses and Somerset followed their leat today as well. I got this right from an inside source.

Anonymous said...

I think an idea to ponder might be on the inclimate weather days in question schools remain open. The simple answer is to not require that children show up. Don't penalize the ones that don't attend. Send home their homework on inclimate weather days instead. They do still need to learn. Don't run the buses. Let the parents take the responsibility and drop their children off at school. Why would this be so outrageous? How many students don't have access to a family vehicle. Am I off on this? I'm just trying to think of solutions instead of blaming everyone. I'm sure there are shortfalls in this thought process but I'm just throwing an idea out there.

Anonymous said...

if you check the radar available on WBOC you will see that the storm is definitely not circling back towards us and the children will go to school tomorrow. Yes today was an "oops" by the school board, but please get over it and move on. No ones life ended today because there was no school.

Anonymous said...

8:00 - very good idea, kind of like a liberal leave policy, but like so many idea's in this area, it will never, ever go thru. To closed minded in these parts for anything new.