Do You Believe They Should Have Closed School Today?
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
73 comments:
no
it's so ludicrous that it boggles the mind
No. They have enough make-up days as it is.
Yes...because we aren't sure how bad it is going to get this afternoon.
better safe than sorry.. With the forcast it did sound like it was going to be nasty... still might, you never know.
Are you kidding me? When I was a kid I had to walk 2 miles uphill through a foot of snow to get to school... and it was uphill on the way home too!!! No... wait... that was my DAD.... that's right. But still, no, I think schools should have been open. You can't close on what MIGHT happen.
Hind sight is 20/20, probably not but oh well what is 1 day in our life!
Absolutely not
should have done half a day at the least.
No, and I believe they should have online classes for students when schools are closed. The teachers could put their classes or ssignments on Facebook, Myspace or Twitter, I'm sure students all across Delmarva check these sites at least once per day. Ya think!
They Should have called for a half day and then changed accordingly.
anonymous 8:26, AT LEAST YOU HAD FEET!
NO, NO, and did I say NO.
No... Why not plan to release early if need be?
8:26...
"We should have used hindsight."
~ Michael Scott
I've been a huge believer of keeping kids safe first and foremost. I even believe schools should have been closed every other snow day this year but...if the kids have to make up today for the school board's ignorance in closing them we should all keep our kids home on that day for spite. Last week they send them on a day some roads were still covered in ice but cancel school today? Does anyone at the school board have a brain???
NO! They sent the kids when some roads were still impassable...but lets not send them when there's NOTHING on the ground! Makes sense right?!
Dumbest damn thing I've heard of in awhile. They sent them back to school early last week with ice covered back roads and keep them home today for NOTHING. They could have least did a half day today. Just plain DUMB!
8:37 nailed it, it was okay to send them when roads were not cleared enough to make it safe and sidewalks were, in many areas, in horrible condition so children had to walk on ice covered roads. Yet today when there is NO reason for the schools to close ..they close them! Sounds like the "call maker" needs a new profession; I hear the weather channel is hiring don't have to be too accurate there!
Hell No
Schools should have been opened, now tomorrow if we get 3 to 5 inches, they will send them to school. Another bad decision!!!
No if they send them last week when the back roads for bad...what is the point of them having off today. The choices make no sense. Damn if do, damn if you don't!
It makes no sense to be home today. My students are missing valuable instruction and I would have preferred to be at school today teaching them! It boggles the mind how we could be sending kids to school on snow/ice packed roads then cancel for a few flakes that didn't even stick! But, that is Wicomico County for you.
Dont these idiots watch the weather channal NO snow.
I'm still wondering why it was cancelled?
But you people complain when they decided to go to school and now your complaining they aren't, confusing bunch
Dont these idiots watch the weather channal NO snow.
Inregards to the "better safe than sorry" Yeah your so right! We may get an earthquake sometime in the next 30 years, we better cancel school until then waiting for it to happen. Those children need to be in school! I wonder if this is the WCBOE's way of cutting the budget?
I'm sure the reason for making this decision was because the storm is supposed to intensify later today and they thought it was best to close than have them going home this afternoon in snow and gusty winds, which are forecasted to happen. I feel better safe than sorry-nothing is more valuable than our children.
I agree with the poster have classes online...great idea. The board could have cancelled due to early morning fog and the threat of morning snow.It does get very, very foggy out near Mardela and for can be more dangerous than snow for visibility.
No, and where is the snow? WBOC always does this. I want whatever they are on over there.
NO it's a joke!
Sam,p
You call people idiots, and then you post something twice and mis-spell channel. Classic.
8:37
Why lessons are not online? NEWSFLASH--lots and lots and lots of families don't have computers. Also, lessons that require science labs, p.e. or music equipment, art supplies, class discussion or debate, books that are not taken home by students, or hands on items cannot be done at home. I guess our auto repair kids at Applied Tech can just take apart the family car, and our nursing students can practice on their neighbors.
Sat and SUNDAY is open.
I am a teacher and yesterday as we peons were discussing what administration would do with the impending weather we all seemed to think that we would go in and try to get at least a half day in. I was just as surprised as everyone else that it was cancelled completely. On the other hand, we have been sent home early on several occasions in other years where the roads were terrible and getting worse. Any decision like this truly is made with safety in mind. I would much rather be safe than sorry.
No way they should have closed school today. By the time this storm wraps back around, they could have had another day in school.
No they should be in school.I grew up in the mountains of Pa were we average about 50 to 80 inches of snow a year and we had mybe 6 to 10 snow days all year.I can remember going to school with 5 or 6 inches of snow on the major roads but we got there.The drivers took there time.I know times have changed but these kids are not learning anything.The more they are out of schoolthe less they learn even though they are going to make them days up it make it harder to teach with long breaks in the middle of learning a subject.But it is what it is.
Nope,they closed school for wet weather.
Well, I've heard so many things about the weather today, its just easier to make your plans in the morning with your children, better safe then sorry!
Why Blame WBOC? Every News and Blog Site was telling everyone to prepare for Snow? You cant praise when these guys are right and then ridicule when they are wrong, it's weather!
The BOE is going to abuse the State's leniency yet again! First they plan on abusing the waiver on the maintenance of effort funding instead of trimming the spending and now they are going to abuse the State's snow day waiver! Well guess what, the State is only going to waive 5 days and I seriously doubt that they are going to waive anymore beyond that! What are we at now, 12 days? The State waives 5, we have 3 built in to the schedule so there are going to be at least 4 to make up. Not to mention that they will probably close schools tomorrow! The professional days have been nix, thus showing that they really aren't necessary.
Bottom line, The students will still have to make up additional days at the end of the year. The BOE should be concerned about teaching and not predicting the weather-it is NOT snowing and schools shouldn't have been closed until it at least started to snow! All they had to do to get a full day in was to make it to 12:30 or so and dismiss early-beyond that would have just been a bonus. Parents, looks like you are going to have to cancel all those summer vacation because at the rate that Frederickson is going your kids are only going to get one week of summer! And teachers, now you'll know what it is like to work for your money during the summer-you can considerate more like the furlough days that you didn't have to take!
Let's face it here, the BOE isn't concerned about quality education an they aren't concerned about the County's budget, so what exactly do they do over there? They have an obligation to provide education and they use that excuse at every chance to get funding and support, but cancelling school today shows that the BOE does not "DO IT FOR THE CHILDREN!" Show some professional and fiscal responsibility and quit taking advantage of the system! I feel that the State should look at this decision as a missed opportunity to educate and its future funding of the WCBOE should reflect such; the County budget should also follow suit.
In addition, there are probably a lot of hippocrits out there about today's closing-Those people that complained last week about the schools being open when the roads were "bad" (I know that some were truly bad, but then some people were really exaggerating) are probably also complaining about schools being closed today! Here's my take on that-if you (average Joe) can or do drive on said "Bad" roads then, in my opinion school, schools should be open. You all know that you were out driving on those roads, thus schools were open. Further more, the BOE needs to cater to the majority of students-I bet not even 10% of Wicomico students lived on those "Bad" roads so should the other 90% be affected as well? Tough call huh? Today, you complain about them being closed so what do you want? Schools opened or closed?! I guarantee that part of the BOE's decision today was fueled by the fire parents put under their asses last week about keeping schools open! Complain all you want, but when you get what you want you become a hippocrit!
Better safe than sorry
9:35 News Flash - We ARE NOT the mountains of Penn - and our drivers know obsolutely nothing about taking their time - our area does not know how to handle snow because we are not use to it - generally we would not have 80 inches of snow adding together accumations over a 10 year period.
NO.....they make their decision by 5am...if he would have looked at the radar he would have seen that it was moving away from us....at 5am it was not snowing! We should have went....if it started snowing again, then close early! Waste of a day!!
anonymous 9:06am....they are only hurting the budget....because when they make these senseless days up....they will be hiring subs for the staff that they have already paid and take off the make-up days.
No. We're already running into the summer and they made a cancellation due to the CHANCE of snow. It's a really complicated storm, with forecasts from 1" - 10". Nobody knows what will happen, but they know we'll get something. But we can all see that nothing is happening right now.
In all fairness, it could have gone the other way. The kids could be in school with a snowicane blowing up on top of them. Then the same people complaining that there is no school would be wondering why their kids had school today.
I bet the were on the cautious side because they made a bad call when the roads were still horrible from the last storm. To try and appease you people, they were extra cautious and tried to give you what you wanted.
Seems to me, best call would have been to prepare for a 1/2 day with early dismissal. That still counts as a day of school, right?
yes, great call!!!!!
Yes, and I haven't even looked out the window yet. 3-6 inches during the school day would result in letting kids out early, and that would be even more of a pain for everyone than declaring school closed all day, not to mention the hazards of buses and kids on slippery streets.
if they were not worried about the kids being safe on the wednesday they went back to school while the back roads were still covered in ice and snow then thay should have gone to school today and why are they worried about making up the other 5 days of school when they start school a week earlier (before labor day which is STUPID)
If all the people making comments about the Board of Education decisions on school closings due to weather, could make a better call every time and please all of Wicomico County citizens who have children in school, why don't they get on the school board and change the policy. Then they can say, LOOK AT ME I MAKE ALL THE RIGHT DECISIONS...
10:42 is right! Why are they worrying about making up 5 or 6 snow days when they started school a week earlier this year, in August?! It's stupid to start kids back to school before Labor Day!
Let me wake my kid up and ask her,ha,ha...
These roads are safe enough for you to drive on to get to work and safe enough for you to drive your kids around on but not good enough to send them to school? HONESTLY, at this point, out of touch parents and the Super have stopped pretending they care if their children are educated or not. All the "safe first"ers seem to forget, school is about education and your childs future. Keep them stupid now, they will remain stupid. And the "its only done day" people, NO, its 10 days out of 180 that our children are PROMISED and that WE PAY for!!! This shouldn't be about budgets, it shouldn't be about a scared Super, it should be about EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN. That is the 800 lb elephant that no one out there seems to see. Any chance that Frederickson even reads this? I hope so.
I wonder if they'll cut the bus contractor's pay for all the days they missed transporting the kids to school?
I'd bet if they did you'd then see those contractors learn how to get the kids to school safely.
Hiring contractors is a joke anyway. A good number of them are not good at being a bus driver. Heck, I'd be scared of some of them driving a car!
The county needs it's own bus fleet and own maintenance shop. All buses would be housed in one location instead of all over the county.
Bet then too you'd see this nonsense of stopping every 3rd house end because then the county would be paying for that extra fuel and wear and tear on the buses.
I didn't grow up here but we didn't have "contractor" buses and personally I think it works better that way.
No they should not have been closed. Once again, someone is trying to create an atmosphere were there is perfect safety. A losing battle. I have made plans and paid for the plans for the week that is going to be used for snow make up days. My child will not be in school that week. Some will say that is bad parenting, oh well, most ppl who has met my child seems to think she is just fine. Those days will be 1/2 days anyway and the grade level she is in currently will not be detrimental to her education. As far as the BOE, they need a better plan b for when "weather happens", we get snow, deal with it, some years more then others, BOE needs to deal better with it. This is not the Sunny south. O.K. its not the frozen north either. Every few winters we get snow, since 1978 / 1979 every so many years we get approx. 1ft of snow in one falling. We need better educated / commonsense person running the BOE. Apparently freddy's degrees doesn't make him good management material.
Any way, even when persons are imported here, we still bring the lest intelligent. LOL
You people are crazy if schools are closed you are upset. If schools are open you are calling as soon as one snow flake hits the ground. This just cracks me up......
Do whatever it takes!
No, schools should have been open. Here is another day they need to make up. We can now say we have a make up day for rain.
FYI:
It's approaching 12:30 and I haven't seen a flake of snow yet! If they at least planned for an early dismissal then they would have at least, by definition, gotten a "full" day in by now. It sure is going to be nice beach weather in August, I would hate to be those students and teachers still in school! Looks like the BOE made yet another BAD call!
It's like the BOE is running on credit-instead of buy now and pay later, its get off now and work later...
NO!!
10:48 - I agree complainers ought to be willing to get involved, but Board members have no input on closings. They are alerted the same way as the general public - the media, the website and the calls.
If you want to be better at dealing with the snow, that takes money for people and equipment. No one around here wants to pay for that since it only snows once every blue moon around here. The schools are going an extra week in June which makes up 5 days, and also going on Monday as a make-up day. So that is 6 days they are making-up and can waive 5 days. They won't go past June 18th as it will then cut into summer school and maintenance on the schools performed in the summer.
NO
You people make me laugh.
The prediction was snow every hour through the day. We were under a winter storm warning (not watch) predicting as much as 2 inches an hour. At 5am the snow was falling in Worcester.
They made the right call with the predictions they had. Had they second guessed the weather and went for a delay or early dismissal and the snow continued to fall the same people here complaining would now be complaining about them not closing school.
Always error on the side of caution when it comes to the safety of our kids.
if the school board and frederikson were all stupid enough to close the schools today ...why are these stupid people being allowed to teach our kids .... i dont know about anyone else but my kids and myself know how to look out the window and look up the weather on the computer..
if this is what is giving my kids an education ....i want a refund from wasting my tax dollars on it.. but this is wicomico county and wasting tax monies on useless things is the status quo here
just my 2 cents
3:02...Finally someone is connecting the dots. Of course they were looking at the weather forecasts and based on how much we have been getting, it was likely to have happened. I think we're all scratching our heads at how we dodged this storm, but the predictions were made and I believe they wanted to side with caution.
No, schools should have been opened today. Dr F and company are idiots, and it seems they are looking for a reason for the test scores to be low this year.
Honestly, you can't blame the BOE entirely for closing the school today. The weather predictions were all over the place. I think they heard what was said when they sent the kids back to school when the back roads weren't clear. They tried to put the kids safety first this time. Was it a mistake? In my opinion they should have went to school today and if the weather got bad sent the kids home. There is one problem with sending them to school and then sending them home. Some parents work and aren't near radio, tv, computors so they may not get the message their children were sent home. Maybe they were looking at all their options today when they closed the school and the best thing for all kids was to just stay home.
not effing hardly.
forget the forecast there is this thing called radar. LOOK AT IT !!!!Even my seven year old son can look at it and figure out what is coming.
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...
No! Stupid decision made by stupid people. Sent kids to school in buses when the ground was covered in ice, but call off a day when we have rain. Idiots.
No.
Looks like this was a non-event. Bored of Ed honchos got caught with egg on their faces, believing the chicken-little wishful-thinking forecasters.
Here is a question to chew on: What standard should be implemented before a decision is made to close schools? An inch on the ground? 2 inches? How about some snow actually on the roads?
When I was in school, there had to be at least 4 inches and counting before schools would be closed. Anything less than that is a waste of time and effort.
They should at least have waited until there was actual accumulation on the roads before calling off classes, considering how many days have been lost so far this month/year. An early dismissal would have been a better plan IF any snow happened to show up
They had the schools open last week, when there was lots of snow pack and ice still remaining on many roads. I'm not complaining about this, but making an observation here. The world did not come to an end, even if a bus or 2 got stuck .... life went on.
So let's not rely on the wishful-thinking-forecasting made by ratings starved weather outlets. They were all over the map on this one, from a dusting to a foot! This should have been a warning sign that they had no clue about this one.
At least when we got lots of snow, they all agreed it was coming, the only thing that was different among then was whether we were going to get 10 or 20 inches.
So, BOE officials let's see a published snowfall standard, and then STICK TO IT!!
I left for work early,because the tv said schools were closed.Therefore I thought the roads were badddd!NOT,nothing,so no the schools should not have been closed.
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