FCPS is asking parents and neighbors to bring a shovel and help your local school dig out today starting at 9am.

FCPS Asks for Volunteers to Help Clear Sidewalks, Bus Stops So School Can Reopen

In light of the record breaking snowfall that blanketed the Washington region over the past 10 days, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) is asking for volunteers to help clear sidewalks, walkways, and bus stops in neighborhoods so that students can safely get to school and schools can reopen as quickly as possible.

Volunteers are asked to bring their own snow removal equipment (shovels, snow blowers) to help clear walking paths between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. tomorrow, Monday, February 15. Volunteers are also asked to clear snow and ice away from fire hydrants.

Principals are working with members of their PTAs or PTOs to mobilize volunteers and distribute assignments. Citizens who do not have children in FCPS are welcome to volunteer and are asked to come to or call their neighborhood school to find out how they can help out.

Thank you for helping to keep our students safe and for working with us to reopen schools.

Let's put the blame where it lies.

VDOT has used front end loaders to create 8 feet high piles of ice on all of the sidewalks.

Great, now we have all the lanes to drive on, and our high-school-aged children are walking in the road to the bus stop in the dark, and then standing there in the street in a gaggle in the dark.

I predict two hour delays for two weeks.

Paul B Wrote:
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> Let's put the blame where it lies.
>
> VDOT has used front end loaders to create 8 feet
> high piles of ice on all of the sidewalks.
>
> Great, now we have all the lanes to drive on, and
> our high-school-aged children are walking in the
> road to the bus stop in the dark, and then
> standing there in the street in a gaggle in the
> dark.
>
> I predict two hour delays for two weeks.


You may be correct about the two hour delay. I'm not sure VDOT had any other alternative on where to place the snow. However, the ironic thing is that the school system worries about kids being in the street and protects them at all costs. But what do kids do when they get home from school? They play in the street!

Hire some mexicans
always ten of them by 7-11 waiting for work

driver Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Paul B Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Let's put the blame where it lies.
> >
> > VDOT has used front end loaders to create 8
> feet
> > high piles of ice on all of the sidewalks.
> >
> > Great, now we have all the lanes to drive on,
> and
> > our high-school-aged children are walking in
> the
> > road to the bus stop in the dark, and then
> > standing there in the street in a gaggle in the
> > dark.
> >
> > I predict two hour delays for two weeks.
>
>
> You may be correct about the two hour delay. I'm
> not sure VDOT had any other alternative on where
> to place the snow. However, the ironic thing is
> that the school system worries about kids being in
> the street and protects them at all costs. But
> what do kids do when they get home from school?
> They play in the street!


Probably b/c the school system is responsible for them from the moment they leave the school to the moment they enter their home. However, FCPS is not responsible for them when they go out and play in the street at night.

FCPS should just ask parents to please warn their kids about how dangerous clearing sidewalks or bus stops could be. The kids will have the places cleared in no time.

I am guessing that it is the same at most high schools, but the on-street parking areas near Robinson (Sideburn and Roberts) are covered. Will FCPD ticket cars if they are a traffic hazard? There were a few GMU students parked on Sideburn near Braddock and it was marginal.

I wonder how many students will have the foresight to bring a shovel and dig out their own space?

Paul B Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Let's put the blame where it lies.
>
> VDOT has used front end loaders to create 8 feet
> high piles of ice on all of the sidewalks.
>
> Great, now we have all the lanes to drive on, and
> our high-school-aged children are walking in the
> road to the bus stop in the dark, and then
> standing there in the street in a gaggle in the
> dark.
>
> I predict two hour delays for two weeks.



No doubt that VDOT did a shitty job, but playing devil's advocate for a second....where were they going to put all of this snow? It's got to go somewhere and if they can't push it to the sidewalks, everyone would be bitching that they can't drive.

Plus, people shouldn't wait until a week of freezing/melting/freezing has passed before they shovel their sidewalks. My sidewalk was completed by Sunday after the 1st snow, and yeah, I had to shovel a lot of snow boulders courtesy of VDOT. But it was a lot easier then than it would be now. If people really wanted to "think of the children!!!" they would have had their sidewalks cleared by now. People shouldn't bitch about safety if they haven't done their part.

__________________________________
That's not a ladybug, that's a cannapiller.

Most kids can walk on snow/ice and shovel better than most adults. Delay opening so its light out (which they should have never had such early start times anyway) and the kids will likely be fine. They can tell their children about going to school in 3 feet of snow and walking uphill both ways. Student parking should be banned the next few days too, although they pay to park - do they have a space to park?

Warhawk Wrote:
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> If people really wanted to "think of the
> children!!!" they would have had their sidewalks
> cleared by now. People shouldn't bitch about
> safety if they haven't done their part.

Here's where you made your mistake... People don't want to "think of the children" themselves, they want other people to do it for them. It's not my problem that you don't think of the children, it's yours! You do it!

Everybody shovel your sidewalks and toss the snow back in the street. There is no other place to put the snow than in the street. This game can go on for weeks.

First - VDOT could put the snow in dump trucks not back ON the sidewalks and street corners.

It's not only dangerous for the kids waiting in the street (dark or light) for their bus to come skidding down the unplowed ice slicked side roads - it also creates a problem for drivers. You have to GO in the road to see if someone is coming from the left or right.

They should really sit the next day or two out and get VDOT to do their job the right way. It may cost extra money but the Gov declared a state of emergency - this should get paid for to save lives.

The kids don't walk to school. They are too lazy and they can have mom or dad drive them creating MORE of a traffic jam in the mornings. If the parents in Northern Virginia would stop raising a bunch of spoiled babies we would have a problem.
I use to walk 2 miles in two FEET of snow barefoot to get to school and I survived. I blame the parents!

On top of that, in Reston (& assume throughout the county) there are a ton of fallen trees and debris sitting on top and under the 10 foot snow piles that are covering the sidewalks. Was there some problem with loading up the cut branches/trunks and hauling that away at the time the equipment was there? FCPS should really plea with the public utilities who helped to create the mess and who have the means to fix it.

I blame Jack Dale

I havent been a student of FCPS in almost 20 years.

If you want for me to shovel snow you are going to need to cough up some cash.

.

Sure I will be more than happy to shovel away all of the snow for FCPS but... Wrote:
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> >
> I havent been a student of FCPS in almost 20
> years.
>
> If you want for me to shovel snow you are going to
> need to cough up some cash.

How many times were you held back?

In my neighborhood, VDOT came in tonight and covered up the sidewalks that the citizens worked together to clear today. Mindboggling.

Same thing just happened over here in Springfield. VDOT dumped much of the snow from the street onto our clean sidewalks, after FCPS asked citizens to clean the sidewalks so students could pass. VDOT did this despite the fact that there are NO HOUSES on the other side of our street, just woods. They could have piled all of the snow on that side of the street!