Dudes, you gotta be kidding me. Is it the goal of FCPS to ensure that no flakes touch the snow boots of my dear children? This is nuts. Okay, YES, it was snowing energetically this morning. YES, our community streets had two inches of snow on them. Is it really possible that our buses and children can not negotiate these mighty impediments? Is it really necessary to deny the kids of another day of school, and disrupt untold family schedules? I don't see it. This is why we're a laughing stock to anyone who lives north of the Maryland line.

At this rate, they'll start closing schools when it rains because the roads are slick and hazardous.....

Al Bundy's favorite movie was Hondo.

Hondo Wrote:
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> At this rate, they'll start closing schools when it
> rains because the roads are slick and hazardous.....

Duh, they will close schools when it rains if roadways that buses use become flooded by creeks, streams, or just plain standing water. Unless you just moved here last week, you ought to have understood by now that delays and other changes in school schedules are COMMONPLACE around here. Adapt or die, fool!

Peggy Wanker, I haven't watch the show in a good ten years and that was my first thought reading his name! I think it was the one that made him cry.

It seems the general trend around this area is if there is one street with one icy patch in an entire county the schools will be closed.

It wasn't like this when I was in school. I guess the lawyers have won again.

Wow. The streets weren'that bad this morning and temps are supposed to edge above the freezing mark before schools let out. So I guess school bus drivers in the county aren't qualified to drive in the snow? At least the decision made thousands of kids happy once again -- Silver lining -- snow-man and igloo building time!

OP the kids in FCPS aren't pussies it's just that mommy and daddy will be quick to sue if little John trips and lands on his ass. Also, the bus drivers suck and can barely drive in the rain, much less the snow.

___________________________________________________________
“Imitation is suicide.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

all the snow is melting :(

fourlegs Wrote:
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> OP the kids in FCPS aren't pussies it's just that
> mommy and daddy will be quick to sue if little
> John trips and lands on his ass. Also, the bus
> drivers suck and can barely drive in the rain,
> much less the snow.

Haha we will get to see how they do driving in 90 degree heat come July. I bet a school bus at 330 in the afternoon on a 95 degree day is nothing but fun!

hsee ton Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> fourlegs Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > OP the kids in FCPS aren't pussies it's just
> that
> > mommy and daddy will be quick to sue if little
> > John trips and lands on his ass. Also, the bus
> > drivers suck and can barely drive in the rain,
> > much less the snow.
>
> Haha we will get to see how they do driving in 90
> degree heat come July. I bet a school bus at 330
> in the afternoon on a 95 degree day is nothing but
> fun!


you're the dumbest piece of shit ever because we have 5 days left.

let's close another school day for the cold ey?

Two hour delay, just because.

Hahaha... Wrote:
> streams, or just plain standing water. Unless you
> just moved here last week, you ought to have
> understood by now that delays and other changes in
> school schedules are COMMONPLACE around here.
> Adapt or die, fool!

I was born and raised here, as was my father before me, so I feel I have a right to bitch. In elementary school, they used to put chains on the busses when it snowed (sand was the treatment of choice), and in junior high, I used to walk through the snow nearly a mile every day, regardless of what conditions the sidewalks were in. Good boots and warm clothes got me through. And as unbelievable as it may seem, I'm still alive, and here to talk about it.

These days, it's not about being sued. It's the mere specter of being put into the position of receiving any threat of a suit, or even "bad press" in the local papers. I'm waiting for the day when they start painting warning labels on the street at each intersection that says, "Roads could become hazardous when the weather conditions deteriorate". One day, when you buy your new car, there will a tear-away warning label on the steering wheel that says, "This vehicle could kill you if driven poorly. It is the responsibility of each driver to receive proper instruction in the safe operation of this vehicle to avoid injury or death!"

This is one of the only regions of the world where we teach our children to be spoiled and sheltered. FFx County needs to get out of the mode of closing schools due to weather events that are considered normal for the season. This is ridiculous!

Dont you love how the weather forecasters always remind us that it's cold outside in the winter and the roads might be slippery when there is snow or ice on them. And then they throw in the recommendations on how to dress when it's cold and snowy. We must have some real dumb asses around here.

We DO have some real dumb asses around here.

hsee ton Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dont you love how the weather forecasters always
> remind us that it's cold outside in the winter and
> the roads might be slippery when there is snow or
> ice on them. And then they throw in the
> recommendations on how to dress when it's cold and
> snowy. We must have some real dumb asses around
> here.

I am more annoyed by the shrill warnings from radio stations like WTOP that comment that "conditions are dangerous" and people should "stay off the roads". Well, truth be known, conditions are ALWAYS dangerous on our roads, whether you have snow on them or not. Better to ask folks to slow down and be careful. This "heightened state of emergency" sense the traffic and radio reporters like to broadcast is just ridiculous.

Now on Thursday morning, I departed my home at 0615. There was about two inches of snow on the street. I have all-weather tires and went slow. I had no problems. Secondary roads were WET. The Interstate was WET. WTOP's snow team was broadcasting their usual fear and loathing, commenting that, "If you don't need to go out, you shouldn't". Two inches of snow. Let's close the schools.

So I look forward to a day in the future when the FFx County School Superintendent goes on air and says, "Look folks, this is northern Virginia. We get snow and ice in the winter, and it gets hot and humid in the summer. I expect each parent of an FCPS student to dress their kids appropriately and teach them basic snow safety. We will NOT be closing schools unless we have major snow events where six inches or more of snow is forecast. We are not in the weather forecasting business - if more snow comes unexpectedly, it might take us longer to get your children home. Welcome to winter. Welcome to Virginia".

For Pete's sake now, have you really not made your kids aware of weather conditions around here? Sheees, the first things my kids do when they have a snow day is to >go outside<.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2015 12:01PM by Hondo.

I don't think it is necessarily the school system or families being wimpy. It is the reality of getting 180,000 kids and thousands of staff to and from school via roads that are not designed for the amount of vehicles on them. Remember the recent morning when kids spent four hours on the bus trying to get to school? It wasn't the bus drivers' fault, it wasn't the school system's fault, it wasn't the fault of the parents or kids. It was the result of all these vehicles on the roads, a huge number of wrecks due to icy and slippery conditions, etc. The wrecks weren't necessarily due to people being bad drivers. You get stuck on a predetermined bus route and your options of dealing with the mess are limited. Many if not most children do not live within reasonable walking distance of their school. Many do not have sidewalks to get to school or have to cross dangerous intersections. The school system is required to have bus transportation for them. They cannot require parents to provide the transportation under the threat of marking their child unexcused.

They have to look at the big picture and calculate if it is worth putting the lives of 200,000+ people at risk.

The reality is..... Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't think it is necessarily the school system
> or families being wimpy. It is the reality of
> getting 180,000 kids and thousands of staff to and
> from school via roads that are not designed for
> the amount of vehicles on them. Remember the
> recent morning when kids spent four hours on the
> bus trying to get to school? It wasn't the bus

> They have to look at the big picture and calculate
> if it is worth putting the lives of 200,000+
> people at risk.

Well, the roads get the kids to school every day, so whether they're designed to handle it or not, they get the kids to school. I'm having difficulty understanding your point. What does heavy traffic or road design have to do with getting the kids to school? I think you're thinking FFx County is somehow special in this respect, when there are thousands of counties across the country that have it a lot worse than we do, and they get their kids to school. Look north. Look to the mid-west. Nobody's going into heart palpitations when two or three inches of snow falls. And the kids go to school.

And forgive me in advance, but your last statement really gets me. We're putting the LIVES of 200K people at risk? Are you serious? Don't you think that's being a bit melodramatic? Now really.

The only reason our kids spent four hours on the bus was because VDOT didn't treat the roads until it was too late. They knew this weather was coming, but they made a decision to not treat the roads. Then things got quickly out of hand, and VDOT couldn't catch up because the roads were gridlocked. I remember listening to a VDOT rep calmly explain that "our trucks can't treat the roads because they're stuck in stand-still traffic", to which I thought, "Well, why didn't you get the sand and salt down an hour before the storm started. You knew it was coming! What were you thinking?" So I chalk that one up to a mistake VDOT made. That was NOT an FCPS issue. It was a VDOT issue.

See, that's the other problem that really gets me going. VDOT misjudged the weather and screwed up. So the solution is, from NOW ON, we're going to close the schools just to be 100% sure our tushes are covered in the outside event VDOT screws it up again. Does that make sense to you?

Mistakes happen. Weather is unpredictable. OMG, we get SNOW here! I'm sorry kids had to sit on the bus for four hours. Sometimes, that happens. Does that mean we put draconian policies into place that shutter our schools at the sign of the first flake? Are you new to this area and unused to snow? Two to three inches of snow and clear primary and secondary roads, and you close schools? This just doesn't make sense to me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2015 12:41PM by Hondo.