<p>Central and southern Minnesota is having a big snow storm today as predicted with high winds. Started snowing at my house at about 11:15am. Many school districts have released the schools early. Our hasn’t. Here it is 2 pm.</p>
<p>Now, I am generally on the side of not letting school out for a few flakes. However… I can barely see the trees at the back of my house lot. I’ll estimate that is 200 feet. How in the world are the farm kids going to get home safely? I’ve driven the gravel roads in what I though were bad conditions - steering based on where the ditch is - but this is dangerous. I don’t know how the bus drivers are going to know where the roads or the farms are. If I lived out there, I’d be telling my kids to sleep over in town with a friend.</p>
<p>Strange thing is that it keeps thundering.</p>
<p>Anybody have experiences with school not closing when it should have?</p>
<p>I was always worried about the busses in heavy snow, and negotiating steep curvy hills. When DD was in second grade, she returned home safely after a very snowy day. I asked her if the bus had any problems. She said, “No mom, not on the way home from school. But this morning, it got stuck in a ditch, the tow-truck came, and it got stuck, so we played in the woods until Mrs. B (a neighbor on the hill) brought us hot chocolate as we waited for another bus. I’m glad I had my hat and mittens!”</p>
<p>Learned that the school district was rather laissez-faire concerning communications, and that my little angel would be grappling with the real world, sans mom. It stung.</p>
<p>Unlike cancelling a school day in the morning or delaying the start of classes, dismissing early is always a difficult decision because there is a possibility that some parents of young children may not get the message in time to get home to meet their children. </p>
<p>Many young children do not have keys to their own homes and are not trusted to be home alone. They could be stuck out in the snow for some time, with no supervision, until a parent gets there. Although parents make contingency plans to cope with this possibility, sometimes those plans fall through. So what is the greater danger, sending kids home early and risking that some of them will be out in the cold alone, or dismissing school on time and having the buses travel in poorer conditions?</p>
<p>I’m glad I’m not the one who has to decide.</p>
<p>From my point of view here in tropical southern Minnesota, Pequot Lakes is on the verge of being in the mythological land of “Up North”. No one knows where the borders of “Up North” are, it’s a state of mind. “Up North” it is always a good day to go fishing for muskies - summer or winter- and an even better day for snowmobiling or jet skiing, depending on when it is finally declared “ice out” (meaning gone from the lake). Even in July, the kids are doing polar bear swims, the loons are laughing, and the saunas are steaming, and Grandma is pulling the tater tot hotdish out of the oven.</p>
<p>Yeah, I am wasting time here hoping my daughter gets in more or less on time.</p>
<p>I’m so glad I do not have to worry about school closures anymore! We had a couple of inches of white fluff at my place tonight, but the roads were clear, so I assume the SD just delayed the start. Some SDs north and south of us were closed due to heavy snow.</p>
<p>Every student has a form filed out and kept in the school office detailing what they are to do if there is an early closing: go home, go to a friend’s house, wait at school to be picked up. Even the high school students have these.</p>
<p>twomules, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for everyone’s safe return. I’m sure the drivers are trained for winter conditions. </p>
<p>We’re in the Syracuse area (150 inches so far this winter and counting), and my kids’ school district is one that takes pride in never canceling unless a foot of snow is expected - and sometimes not even then. When the superintendent retired a few years ago, he was honored during graduation, and that year’s valedictorian said something like “thank you for 28 years of outstanding service and a generous distribution of snow days, particularly during our senior year.” There hadn’t been any that year - the val got a nice hand for that. :)</p>
<p>Countless times. Schools in the Toronto area do not close for snow, no matter how bad it is. They often will cancel buses but the schools remain open. This used to annoy me to no end when my Ds were little because if it’s too dangerous for the buses to be on the road, then it’s too dangerous for the kids who walk and who get rides, not to mention the teachers! Now that one of my Ds is a teacher, I feel the same. Actually, her district did cancel school for one day this winter, which is virtually unheard of, but it was largely due to ice and not snow. </p>
<p>The early dismissal issue is a bit different. I know that, here, it’s difficult because every parent would have to be called to make sure they’re home (for the little ones) so it makes it a difficult decision. Staff have to stay at the school until every child is picked up.</p>
<p>Twomules, NYC public schools hardly ever closed because of bad weather.
The reasons behind it are: the officials don’t want a bunch of kids roaming around town. Also, the concern that some parents would leave their kids alone, and go to work.</p>
<p>I ran outside to measure. We have had over 6 inches in the 4 hours.</p>
<p>I can understand in a city situation where the distances aren’t that great. I’m thinking though of my daughter’s friend who lives 15 miles out from town on a gravel road. She isn’t even on the edge of the district. The gravel roads aren’t going to get plowed today and navigating them is going to be very difficult.</p>
<p>Wow, buses canceled but school stays open? That’s crazy!</p>
<p>Hey twomules! Our school district NEVER closes or has early release. D2 recently got home…roads are bad. Snow has tapered off though the winds are still strong. Looks like we will be busy with the snowblower tonight!
I have comfort food on the menu for dinner…meatloaf and homemade mac 'n cheese!</p>
<p>Your snow finally reached us- after schools let out. I will have the choice of clearing the driveway late tonight after it stops, or getting up early so H can leave in the morning (have decided the snowblower noise and sleeping people not a problem- especially when the cul de sac plow has its backup beeps in the wee hours). At least we are getting all snow, some places will get freezing rain, then snow. And I did my errands before it began knowing it would be late afternoon before it started.</p>
<p>We have had snow cover since the beginning of December (only a few days where some grass was exposed in recent weeks)- will April ever come? We had a season’s worth before January- and March often has wet, heavy snow, even large snowfalls. It is pretty, though.</p>
<p>So glad not to worry about school closures anymore. The worst is elementary school- before you figure out your district’s probable logic, are tuned into thinking about it and need to transport/take care of a child. The older kids are not as helpless.</p>
<p>oldfort: how about the time last year that school was closed the night b4 and a flake never dropped??? haha</p>
<p>frazzled: Winter needs to be over in Syracuse (and the rest of the “snow” region)…it’s enough already, don’t you think? I heard 167 inches and counting on the NYC news last night…btw, what’s the record?</p>
<p>twomules, I don’t have a school story to share, but there was a major storm on the day of my daughter’s second Nutcracker performance this year, and they did not postpone it (too much trouble to break down and put up the sets).</p>
<p>I was very upset, as of course we (and everyone else) had to drive in treacherous conditions, and as it was snowing throughout the afternoon, it could have very well been the case that people would not have been able to leave after the show.</p>
<p>They were very, very fortunate in that there was a break in the weather just as the performance ended.</p>
<p>Personally, I don’t think it was worth the risk.</p>
<p>My screen name sums up how I feel about winter. </p>
<p>We live in Anchorage, and our school district canceled school in January for THREE days because it got too WARM (and our streets were like ice rinks).</p>
<p>They predicted the snow with thunder at times- just had thunder-rare for winter. Snow is better than ice- relatives in southern Indiana have had many more school cancellations for icy conditions, and snow falls off power lines. We have had record snow this season- but we’re NOT in the lake effect snow belt. I heard that Minneapolis, which we keep an eye on for weather coming our way, hasn’t had much snow this year (the southern part of the state keeps an eye on Iowa for eastward moving weather).</p>
The record is 192.1 inches at Hancock International Airport, in 1992-93. Folks 30 miles north of Syracuse get far more snow every winter - 300 inches is not unheard of. I hope winter around here listens to you, rodney, and evaporates soon!</p>
<p>fendrock, I feel your pain about having to drive to the Nutcracker performance. The worst driving I ever had to do happened several years ago, taking my d downtown to perform in the annual Christmas ballet. I was terrified - there were white-outs every 5 minutes, and cars were off the road everywhere. The girl dancing the lead was involved in a weather-related crash on the way to the theater; her mother was severely injured, suffering compound fractures of both legs. She struggled with a wheel chair and crutches for more than a year, and will probably never walk normally again. No, that’s not worth it.</p>
<p>twomules, has everyone gotten home safely, I hope?</p>