Feb 22, 2008
Snow and ice and ice and snow...
We got hit by a fairly unexpected storm last night. Weather forecasters, of course, had not said we were getting 3-4 inches of snow (a LOT by Cincinnati standards), but had predicted freezing rain, which we got after the snow. By 6pm last night, schools were cancelling like crazy, despite the fact it had STOPPED snowing and raining by 10pm! Road crews had all night to clear the roads (have they not heard of overtime??) and honestly, I just don't see why schools were closed today.
The saddest part of all this is, is that when Summer approaches and the schools have to decide about all the snow days they've missed, they usually elect to make up one or two, but never all of them. My question is: Which day in school is "disposable" and WHY? I have a history of fighting with the schools my kids were in when it came to making up snow days... I could never understand why ever minute in school wasn't important to the administration. Which day should my 4th grader miss? The day they were to learn to multiply by 5? The day they were to learn about commas? The day they were to do a diarama of the Plymouth landing? The day they were to learn how to spell "enunciate"? Just tell me which little piece of the puzzle was it OK for my child to miss?
Ah well.. it's up to the parents with children in school now to fight the good fight for their child.
The same weather than cancelled schools today also cancelled Brayden's and my "Gym Class" we had scheduled for 10:15. I am enrolling him in a 2 yr old gym class that will meet every Friday morning for 20 weeks. I know he'll be shy about joining in at first, but when he watches the other kids walking the balance beam and doing other fun stuff, I know he'll join in eventually. The class size is only 7 children, which is great. I think he's going to love it! Besides giving him something fun to do, it will also get us out of the house every Friday, which we both need. (Of course, all this is still dependent on my getting a car eventually!) Once he turns the big TWO on March 1st, I'll also be signing him up for our local public library's Two-Year-Old Story Hour, which I know he'll love.
Mary's running late this morning, so I had time to put a pot roast in the crock pot for dinner tonight before Brayden arrives, and get a little housework done. Our plans for the day will include Play-Doh and going down to the basement to play in the Sandbox I've set up down there. Should be fun!
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6 comments:
Gee...in NH they make up all the snow days....they have to be in school 180 days no matter what. The only time I can remember them cutting us any slack was the Blizzard of 78, cause we missed a whole week and it was a federal disaster area and they had to get federal permission. We are now getting what you just had....6-10" in our area...but WE HAD SCHOOL!! They did have an early dismissal, so it's 12:30 and kids at the high school are just getting out. They say the real heavy stuff is coming 2-9pm....so we still have lots to look forward to!
For some weird reason, here it's up to individual school boards whether they make up the days. I'm guessing they miss at least 10 days a year and make up one or two. The "bottom line" almighty dollar seems to be more important than an education around here. Mumblemumblegrumblegrumble!!! :)
My mom said they called off school and sent everyone home early in eastern KY and IT DID'T EVEN SNOW! I think KY schools are even more snow-averse than Ohio. I don't think they make up all the time either. They weren't that way when I went to school there. We had class on days when only the town kids attened because the buses couldn't run out in the rural parts of the county.
Even stranger (to me anyway) is when they call off almost ALL Sunday church services.. I mean, c'mon.. the minister usually lives next door -- can't he just give a sermon and sing a few songs for the people who do show up? I've never ever heard of cancelling church services!!!
I think most states, including Ohio, have a minimum amount of instructional days. A certain number of snow days are built in to the school year, so that is why they only make up a couple days - only the days that go over that. Since the curriculum is developed around this system, I doubt that any subject matter is really being omitted.
It's funny, but I don't remember having that many snow days when I went to elementary/middle/high school in Ohio! Four or five, maybe, but not 10. But then again, I lived in Dayton, not Cincy.
That's true, Lisa, but several years in the past 15 years they have gone 5-7 days OVER their allotted snow days -- and those are the days the School Board has to vote and decide if those days are made up or not. They always vote to not make them up. They cite extra costs (busses, teachers, maintenance, etc.) as their reason -- once again putting the dollar before education.
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