Post by Concerned Columbus Parent on Feb 20, 2007 9:01:15 GMT -5
----- Original Message -----
From: [hidden]
To: [my personal email address - hidden]
Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 1:59 AM
Subject: Opting for e-mail LOL
So many times, they only do a delay when school should be canceled. And what do the parents do? They drive their kids to school to assure their safety by avoiding the waiting at a slick street corner for pickup, allowing more time to clear the roads, riding on a bus with a much longer breaking time, & in cases where no delay was made, allowing for more daylight. Waiting at a street corner is unsafe at any time, especially at dake in the morning. Add to that the fact that all the parents who aren't driving them to school that day are all driving them to the bus stop to keep them warm & safe till the bus arrives, if it arrives. These further congest the roads with traffic.
One day, we were behind a bus & we passed a father whose car slid off the ditch & his kids were with him. He flipped the bus driver the finger either because the driver didn't stop to pick up his kids or because she represented the erring school system (probably both). The same day, we passed a student in another ditch & a teacher in the ditch in front of the school. I later found out that same teacher had just bragged that he NEVER had a snow related wreck because he slows down appropriately.
A few years ago, a student was killed on the way to school. It had snowed & they were running late. They slid off the road about a mile from the school & at least one of them died. This is more likely to happen when all high school students are required to drive as it was required during budget crunch. These high school drivers are immature & inexperienced (especially in snow & on ice) & are a danger to themselves & others in bad weather. I've seen them do donuts in the snowy, icy parking lot, peal out in the snow, allow friends to ride on the hood & then slam on the breaks, etc.
To tell you the truth, I am a terrible driver & neither you nor I want me to be forced to go out there in bad road or bad visibility conditions.
Even though school was canceled for all but one day in the last 2 weeks, only a couple of days included school activities also being canceled. Clearly more an issue of finances & rescheduling concerns over the students' & parents' safety. On top of that, my son wrestles for high school. If he didn't show up, they had to do extra workouts & chores such as mopping. If they were late, they had extra running. They not only made them practice on days when school activities were canceled, they also had to go in at 9 AM instead of the usual 2:30 practice after school for all but one practice. And, only one practice was canceled altogether. . This reduced the amount of time street crews could clear the roads before we had to venture out. So the school finally makes a decision, but we have to put our kids, ourselves, & our vehicles in harms way because the coaches have so much authority. I can see making practice optional, but, not mandatory. And if you miss a practice, you don't wrestle the next event.
In our district, they always wait till about 6 AM regardless of the obviously un passable road conditions or wind chill factor. And I found out through hearsay indirectly from other staff members 14 to 24 hours ahead of any formal announcements, despite my pleading for announcements early enough to allow parents to make alternative arrangements. The news media gets the news & we hear it there BEFORE the parental e-mail notices go out despite their denial that they get it sooner. Even on last Tuesday when even the news announcers were promising a day off, they waited to tell the parents.
Parents should be given more control when the are concerned for the safety of their children. They could at least make "optional days" where the attendance, the school work & the sport consequences will not be levied against students when their parents chose to err on the side of caution.
Sometime I think that the school administration are more worried about themselves & their staff having to work extra days in the summer or just plain stuck on the fear of giving the kids some kind of undeserved break, that it clouds their ability to walk a mile in our shoes any more. ERR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION OR AT LEAST DON'T DING US FOR DOING SO.
I have more stories & concerns but no time to type it all!
~~~~~
Moderator's Note: When we receive an email from a Columbus area parent, I will protect their identifying & location info with [hidden] in the email and post them hereon the board. Note that I have added emphasis/color to parts that document dangerous situations to students. Stay tuned, the emails keep coming in!
~~~~~
From: [hidden]
To: [my personal email address - hidden]
Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 1:59 AM
Subject: Opting for e-mail LOL
So many times, they only do a delay when school should be canceled. And what do the parents do? They drive their kids to school to assure their safety by avoiding the waiting at a slick street corner for pickup, allowing more time to clear the roads, riding on a bus with a much longer breaking time, & in cases where no delay was made, allowing for more daylight. Waiting at a street corner is unsafe at any time, especially at dake in the morning. Add to that the fact that all the parents who aren't driving them to school that day are all driving them to the bus stop to keep them warm & safe till the bus arrives, if it arrives. These further congest the roads with traffic.
One day, we were behind a bus & we passed a father whose car slid off the ditch & his kids were with him. He flipped the bus driver the finger either because the driver didn't stop to pick up his kids or because she represented the erring school system (probably both). The same day, we passed a student in another ditch & a teacher in the ditch in front of the school. I later found out that same teacher had just bragged that he NEVER had a snow related wreck because he slows down appropriately.
A few years ago, a student was killed on the way to school. It had snowed & they were running late. They slid off the road about a mile from the school & at least one of them died. This is more likely to happen when all high school students are required to drive as it was required during budget crunch. These high school drivers are immature & inexperienced (especially in snow & on ice) & are a danger to themselves & others in bad weather. I've seen them do donuts in the snowy, icy parking lot, peal out in the snow, allow friends to ride on the hood & then slam on the breaks, etc.
To tell you the truth, I am a terrible driver & neither you nor I want me to be forced to go out there in bad road or bad visibility conditions.
Even though school was canceled for all but one day in the last 2 weeks, only a couple of days included school activities also being canceled. Clearly more an issue of finances & rescheduling concerns over the students' & parents' safety. On top of that, my son wrestles for high school. If he didn't show up, they had to do extra workouts & chores such as mopping. If they were late, they had extra running. They not only made them practice on days when school activities were canceled, they also had to go in at 9 AM instead of the usual 2:30 practice after school for all but one practice. And, only one practice was canceled altogether. . This reduced the amount of time street crews could clear the roads before we had to venture out. So the school finally makes a decision, but we have to put our kids, ourselves, & our vehicles in harms way because the coaches have so much authority. I can see making practice optional, but, not mandatory. And if you miss a practice, you don't wrestle the next event.
In our district, they always wait till about 6 AM regardless of the obviously un passable road conditions or wind chill factor. And I found out through hearsay indirectly from other staff members 14 to 24 hours ahead of any formal announcements, despite my pleading for announcements early enough to allow parents to make alternative arrangements. The news media gets the news & we hear it there BEFORE the parental e-mail notices go out despite their denial that they get it sooner. Even on last Tuesday when even the news announcers were promising a day off, they waited to tell the parents.
Parents should be given more control when the are concerned for the safety of their children. They could at least make "optional days" where the attendance, the school work & the sport consequences will not be levied against students when their parents chose to err on the side of caution.
Sometime I think that the school administration are more worried about themselves & their staff having to work extra days in the summer or just plain stuck on the fear of giving the kids some kind of undeserved break, that it clouds their ability to walk a mile in our shoes any more. ERR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION OR AT LEAST DON'T DING US FOR DOING SO.
I have more stories & concerns but no time to type it all!
~~~~~
Moderator's Note: When we receive an email from a Columbus area parent, I will protect their identifying & location info with [hidden] in the email and post them hereon the board. Note that I have added emphasis/color to parts that document dangerous situations to students. Stay tuned, the emails keep coming in!
~~~~~