Too cold to go to school????

[azasadny]

My wife is a teacher at the same school where my kids go and we got the call last night at 11:00pm that there would be no school today becaues it's "too cold". It's -3 degrees and with the windchill, it's -20, so it's cold, but what the hell is going on? None of these kids walk to school, they all have their parents drive them in and because it's a charter school, we don't have any buses, so the reason can't be that it's too cold for the buses to run. This is Michigan and this happens in the winter in MI, this is not a fluke or strange phenomenon...

So, Beth and the kids are home today and I have to go to work! It is cold, but this is MI, we should anticipate cold weather in the winter!

Rant over... thanks, I feel better now...

[IROC]

When I was a kid we lived in Speedway, Indiana for a few years. They closed schools because it was too cold once. We had to walk to school, though. There weren't any buses.

They've closed schools here in Alabama before based on a *forecast* of snow. It never snowed, but the schools were closed anyway.

Mike

[Rick Lee]

Oh, it's bad here. A 1/4" dusting will get school shut for days. Sometimes just a false prediction of it gets school shut. When I was growing up in NJ, we never had snow days. Once in a while we had late openings, but somehow, we always made it to school.

[many944s]

Around here (Lafayette, Indiana) there are several lower income areas of town. Recently, the school corporation decided to reduce the number of busses, stating that many of the students being bussed before could now walk.

I worked in the corporation for a while, and it is nothing to see some of these kids walking to school in sub zero temps in nothing more than a sweat-shirt and jeans.

Today there is a 2 hour delay, I would not be surprised if school is canceled a couple of days later this week. Must be nice to have a school corporation that puts money into taking care of the students, instead of making sure they have the best sports facility, including a football stadium that rivals some colleges!!

[wludavid]

Originally posted by Rick Lee
Oh, it's bad here. A 1/4" dusting will get school shut for days. Sometimes just a false prediction of it gets school shut. When I was growing up in NJ, we never had snow days. Once in a while we had late openings, but somehow, we always made it to school.

I grew up here and went to Fairfax County schools. The tendency to cancel schools on forecast has gotten worse. It's always been bad. An inch will literally cause the county cancel school for one day and 2-3 days of 2-hour delays after that.

In high school they started canceling school based on forecasts. Now that seems like the norm. I kind of see the point though -- HS kids who drive to school have to leave their houses at about 6:40. So if you don't cancel school at the drop of the hat, you have several thousand inexperienced drivers on the road, in the dark, while it's snowing. Safer just to cancel school.

[TerryH]

Ahh, the good old days. I lived in northern Minnesota until I was 12 yrs. old, through 6th grade. We had many blizzard and cold days off each year. Of course some of those days off are figured into the school year and some missed days are added to the end of the year.

Blowing snow with zero visibility and sub-zero temps is pretty much expected this time of year. Temps reaching -50 and worse with wind chill figured in aren't uncommon.

My wife and I went back 10 years ago for Christmas. One day it was -87 with the wind chill. Local news reported that if you went outside, you were basically on your own. There were no guarantees anyone would rescue you if got stuck or stranded because the rescuers would be risking their lives just to get to you. At those temps any exposed skin is frostbitten very quickly.

I have many good memories, even with the harsh winters. While I wouldn't care to live there now, it is always a great place to be from.

My hometown local forecast....
http://search.weather.yahoo.com/forecast/USMN0514.html

[asphaltgambler]

WOW............................you'd think that in Michigan most people would already know that it occasionaly gets cold there.

Where's the suprise? - UFB!

[Noah930]

I went skiing (or tried, rather) once at Stowe, VT. They closed the mountain because it was "too cold." So we went to the Ben and Jerry's plant, had some ice cream, and went snowshoeing in the woods behind the factory.

[legion]

I recall we had one day about 12 years ago when I was in high school in Naperville where the temperature hit -10º and the wind chill -30º. The school bus was 45 minutes late, and a friend and I said "screw it" and went to his house and played video games all day. Apparently the bus showed up another 45 minutes later (1½ hours late). We were given a month of Saturday detentions for not waiting for the bus--and my parents grounded me until the detentions were over.

---

They cancelled school in Bloomington/Normal today because they can't get their school buses started.

[wludavid]

Damn Legion. If that were my kid, I'd say, "Way to take initiative. I don't want you standing around in 10 below temps for 90 minutes b/c the schools can't get their acts together."

[jorian]

Thank the lawyers for that. Its liability issue.

[Tim Hancock]

All the schools in NW Ohio closed today also. It was about zero here last night. I can't recall any "cold days" before but the slightest snowfall is always good for a 2 hr delay anymore. When I was a kid, it had to be at least a few inches for a delay and more like 4-6" to cancel. Of course we used to have snow most of the winter, now it is more sporadic. I guess the schools fear lawsuits more than they did when I was a teen. Back then if you put your car in the ditch on the way to school, it was your own fault. Now I guess it has to be the schools or the snowplow drivers or Bush's fault...... IOW, anyone but the driver.

[MRM]

Originally posted by jorian
Thank the lawyers for that. Its liability issue.

Sorry, it is not. School districts have imunity from suit for any policy level decisions like keeping school open or closing it. It's called discretionary or statutory immunity, depending on the jurisdiction and type of decision. You'll have to find another dead donkey to flog for this one. Maybe they sincerely think it's dangerous for kids to be out when it's that cold.

[tdatk]

I grew up in Niagara Falls NY. Snow belt area.I lived on an Island on the Niagara river about 3 miles above the falls. I could see my Junior high school from my bedroom window, but , I had to walk 1.5 miles in the wrong direction to the bridge accross the river then 1.75 miles back to the school. I did not qualify for the bus as I was within the 1/2 mile radius of the school. In the winter the river froze so that was the short cut . I don't remember a lot of snow days back then but it had to be 3-4 inches overnnight to even be considered.
Local forcast for NF , tonight low 7 .Tomorrow high of 12.
NF forcast

[azasadny]

We just got the call, no school for my wife and kids tomorrow, either. It's below zero but that happens every winter. My wife is a teacher at the school where our kids go and she said they have 6 "snow days" built into the school year calendar to accomodate things like this...

[HardDrive]

Dad lives in Ann Arbor. He would be freezing his a55 off....accept that he and his wifey took off for Florida last week. They have been checking the weather reports and having a good laugh as they fish and enjoy the sun.

[Zef]

It's - 34 Celcius this morning here in Montreal...all school are open...but kids stay inside...no playing outside...

[Tim Hancock]

-5 degrees F this am. Schools closed again! 22 yrs ago, I would have driven my '72 Beetle with no heat exchangers 10 miles to school on a day like this. Kids have it pretty easy these days IMO.

[tab tanner]

Tim, I thought you walked 5 miles to school up hill both ways, carrying 10lbs of books with no shoe's, in the rain, snow, or every when it was near 100 degrees?

[Tim Hancock]

Originally posted by tab tanner
Tim, I thought you walked 5 miles to school up hill both ways, carrying 10lbs of books with no shoe's, in the rain, snow, or every when it was near 100 degrees?

I never brought books home....homework was for suckers