school closings?

[fuzzytoad]

Edmond schools closed today, OKC schools closed today and tomorrow..

seriously?

[nik4411]

yep. it was said on the radio that the school districts take into account how many kids have to walk to and from school and then factor that into their decision.

pretty dumb though.

[sacolton]

In my day, way back in 1983, Putnam City schools wouldn't close unless it was raining fire and brimstone. Now, if it gets chilly - they close the schools? Heck, the roads were dry this morning!

[kmf563]

They were worried about those kids who have to stand out at the bus stop forever. Or even walk to school. Hey, here's an idea...get the buses there on time and they won't have to wait! Maybe even tell them to pick up a coat out of the lost and found box to put on. And tell them to not walk to school. If they can't find a ride or a bus, then stay home. But don't close the entire district because of a handful of kids that may or may not freeze to death. How am I supposed to teach my child that life goes on even when it's cold and to be responsible when they do this? Yes, I have to go to work today! They don't close because it's cold, I can't call in because I'm too cold. Pretty sure New York continues on. As do Alaskans. Every day.

[benman]

Yep, this is the track America is going down. A bunch of sissies who cant deal with everyday life. Its pitiful.

[fuzzytoad]

Yep, this is the track America is going down. A bunch of sissies who cant deal with everyday life. Its pitiful.

yeah, I'm scared to see how these kids turn out when they're adults.. if they even make that far.

[PennyQuilts]

yeah, I'm scared to see how these kids turn out when they're adults.. if they even make that far.

They will expect us to support them and make sure they have a warm meal and nice warm house.

[fuzzytoad]

They will expect us to support them and make sure they have a warm meal and nice warm house.

So they can't have that if they're exposed to cold weather on the way to the bus or school??

**edit - Oh, I see what you're saying.. yeah, I can imagine this current generation of schoolkids living with mommy & daddy well into their 40's

[hipsterdoofus]

They will expect us to support them and make sure they have a warm meal and nice warm house.

or pay for their health care

[Thunder]

What is wrong with these people? You all seriously want to risk the kids? This is stupid. There are like 11,000 kids in the OKC district alone that walks to school. Look at the wind chills. You all want them to get frost bites and possibly freeze to death?

[sacolton]

... and a XBOX 360 and PS3.

[yukong]

Well Yukon schools made a late decision to close but it was because several schools are without power still. But they would never close because of a little cold. And a very large percentage of our students ride the
bus as we have a lot of rural route kids.

[bombermwc]

It's a total load of crap. There's no reason to close the entire district for cold. Do you think they do this in the north where this is the norm...no. And guess what, kids wait for the bus and walk there too. If the school doesn't have power, then close that invidividual school, otherwise kids need to be in the classroom. It's a total crap load of B.S. for sure. These kids can find alternative ways of getting to school if they want...and if they can't, then those parents need to make the decision of whether or not the kid needs to just stay home that day, not the district.

Yukon cancelled this morning because so many schools didn't have power. That I understand, but just beacuse it's cold...no.

[kmf563]

Psh. They don't need lights. Those kids could go to school too. LOL. Kidding of course.

My son gets to stay home today and he will not grow up to be worthless. He knows that he has 2 choices - get a job, or go to college. Either way, your time at home is limited.

On the other hand - I also taught him to not look a gifthorse in the mouth. Or whatever that saying is. Take your day off and enjoy it because it was given to you. If you boss calls and says stay home then by all means say yes thank you and take it. But you will not call in and say it's too cold. Ever.

[MsProudSooner]

The amount of state funding that schools receive is based on Average Daily Attendance. If a schools Average Daily Attendance drops their funding drops. If a school expects to have lower than norman attendance due to extreme weather or a flu outbreak, it makes sense for them to close the school and make those days up at the end of the year.

[sacolton]

Are most of the schools staying closed for today and Friday?

[bandnerd]

I'm sure part of it is OKCPS thinking about possible lawsuits if someone's child suffers from the cold, i.e. hypothermia or whatnot. Personally, I'm not too happy about it because only half of one of my classes was here (We do not follow OKCPS for closing decisions) and it's only because the kids said, hey, my friends didn't have to go to school, why should I? Annoying. That said, I would feel very sorry for a young kid waiting for a bus at 6:30 in the morning if it felt like -2°F.

[bluedogok]

I'm sure part of it is OKCPS thinking about possible lawsuits if someone's child suffers from the cold, i.e. hypothermia or whatnot.

Exactly, or if they get injured walking to school. Whether a lawsuit is valid or not is immaterial, it still costs the district money in defending itself.

Part of the problem is that many kids don't have the right type of clothing for temps this cold, since they are rare. Also, another teacher told me that diesel fuel (school buses) can have problems starting in extremely cold temperatures. I googled this and it seems to be true. Anyhow, I'm not going to complain about getting to sleep in today.

Diesel congeals as it gets colder unless it has additives in it to prevent that from happening, typically areas this far south do not have that additive because the extreme cold is rare. Down here people think it's freezing if it below 60, they have had their parkas and fur lined hats with ear flaps down all week, it was still in the 50's last night. I think our temps are supposed to be low 30's/low 20's and everyone is acting like a new ice age is coming.

[calitook]

Part of the problem is that many kids don't have the right type of clothing for temps this cold, since they are rare. Also, another teacher told me that diesel fuel (school buses) can have problems starting in extremely cold temperatures. I googled this and it seems to be true. Anyhow, I'm not going to complain about getting to sleep in today.

[PennyQuilts]

Early 1980's was yesterday. You have to go further back than that for me!

[Thunder]

Only in Oklahoma, where we have people complaining about safety being put first for the kids.

[venture]

Okay people need to chill out. From someone who ACTUALLY did got to school up north where it gets colder than this...this is pretty much how it worked.

Well for one, we went to school for 183 days a year with 5 calamity days. The policy for the major urban district was different from those that served to the burbs/rural areas.

More than 5 inches of snow on streets - both urban & rural closed.
Wind Chill below -15 expected consistently - both closed.
Temp below 5 above for the high - both closed.
Freezing Rain - roads had to be ice covered by normally handled well, rural only normally.
Fog visibility under 1/8th of a mile - rural only delayed 2-3 hours or closed if it doesn't lift by mid morning.

That last point is something I've noticed they don't do here. There aren't any "delays" to the start of school. Back north they use this a lot so they don't have to utilize a full calamity day for closing school. They can do 2 hour start delays for 3 days before they use one up.

Either way, its about child safety and funding. If you guys want to shell out more in property taxes to have 100% bus coverage for all kids...by all means. Unfortunately most voters would strike down any levy that tried to come about to cover it.

[fuzzytoad]

Okay people need to chill out.

hehe

[Architect2010]

In case some of you don't know. Oklahoma City Public Schools enrolls 42,750 kids. A large number of those are bus riders or walkers. It isn't a handful. It's over 10 thousand children. It's especially hazardous to those kids when a large number of OKCPS's students are below poverty level so you know they aren't going to best dressed for something that is a rare occurrence here. It doesn't matter anyways though. We'll be making these days up at the end of the year.

Someone else also mentioned heating in the schools. Believe it or not, my school, Southeast High will go without heating for days because they just stop working. It happened again last week and let me tell you, it is not fun trying to concentrate and work when your hands are frozen stiff. Same goes for the Air Conditioning in the summer.

[bandnerd]

Okay people need to chill out. From someone who ACTUALLY did got to school up north where it gets colder than this...this is pretty much how it worked.

Well for one, we went to school for 183 days a year with 5 calamity days. The policy for the major urban district was different from those that served to the burbs/rural areas.

More than 5 inches of snow on streets - both urban & rural closed.
Wind Chill below -15 expected consistently - both closed.
Temp below 5 above for the high - both closed.
Freezing Rain - roads had to be ice covered by normally handled well, rural only normally.
Fog visibility under 1/8th of a mile - rural only delayed 2-3 hours or closed if it doesn't lift by mid morning.

That last point is something I've noticed they don't do here. There aren't any "delays" to the start of school. Back north they use this a lot so they don't have to utilize a full calamity day for closing school. They can do 2 hour start delays for 3 days before they use one up.

Either way, its about child safety and funding. If you guys want to shell out more in property taxes to have 100% bus coverage for all kids...by all means. Unfortunately most voters would strike down any levy that tried to come about to cover it.

I think this is all very valuable information. I had wondered what they do up north. We just aren't used to really cold temps here...15 to us might as well be 0.