City Schools of Decatur Closed For Students Friday
Decatur Metro | January 13, 2011From CSD’s Bruce Roaden…
School will not be in session at any Decatur buildings tomorrow, january 14, including College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center. Zero to three child care providers at College Heights should not report to work. 210 day. 225 day, and other 244 day employees should report to work no later than 10 am, driving conditions willing. Maintenance and custodial employees should report to the maintenance shop at 8 AM. Please contact your supervisor if you have any questions. Be safe and warm.
Unbelievable…….I would have de-iced the school drop off circles if they would have asked for voluteers.
Thanks to some Clairemont and Winnona Park parents who pitched in at their sites this week.
Only in the South does 3-4 inches of snow translate to a whole week off school.
Except that it’s ice, not snow. Big difference.
Also, except only southerners would assume that sub-freezing temperatures would some how clear the snow, uh, err, ice all by themselves.
As Lewis Grizzard used to say, if you don’t like it down here, Delta is ready when you are. I’m always amused when people from elsewhere complain about how we handle cold weather. If there’s a heat wave in Chicago, there’s always problems because people don’t have air conditioning. And they don’t have it because they don’t need it. Just like we don’t need a bunch of snow plows, snow tires, etc. It would be a waste of money. Most of us natives, however, are smart enough to know when we shouldn’t be driving. I’ve really enjoyed being at home with my two boys, playing in the snow and sledding. It’s been awesome.
Lord love ya.
you said it!
agreed, thank you
There’s the if you don’t like it leave argument again.
The issue is seeing the storms coming–days off, and not being prepared. Then when the snow hits–and consequently turns to ice, folks stand around with their hands in their pockets, oh well. It’s not so much as having or not having the resources, but it’s the fact that not much gets done when it does happen–look at the GDOT and Dekalb Co. response to the winter storms in the recent past as a perfect example. Perhaps I unfairly picked on southerners–though I’ve grown up down here–but I don’t think I have. “Oh well” is the Dixie answer to anything not involving race, religion, or “states rights”.
My daddy never said ‘oh well.’ But I do recall him saying ‘ahh, to hell with it’ quite often.
Ridiculous. The roads are fine, and the only reason the drop-off circles are icy is an apparent lack of planning. @Mowgli is absolutely right – CSD could’ve had an army of parents de-icing if they had asked.
All area schools are absolutely right to be closed tomorrow. The last thing we need are more people on the roads, especially more inexperienced drivers (i.e high schoolers). The thaw comes Saturday; why risk it for one day?
Exactly. It is not ridiculous at all. Many of the neighborhood roads are still a mess, and we don’t need to risk the safety of our children to get them to school for one day left in the week. I can totally understand parents’ frustration, but the schools made the right decision.
Because the desire to whine and assume that one’s personal experience is synonymous with all experience is a personality trait tailor-made for Decatur. And that’s speaking as a local. We be what we be.
You beat me to it…
Go, Scott!
Plus, the sidewalks are unbelieveably icy. I cleared mine, but the rest of the city hasn’t, and a lot of kids walk to school. Plus, Decatur uses DeKalb school buses. Would Decatur be able to have buses if they decided to have school and the county didn’t?
This proud Southerner was on plenty of slippery roads today.
my husband suggested that we all bring our “pay as you throw bags” which have accumulated this week and use them to sprinkle in the drop off lanes at the schools and sidewalks. good way to solve 2 problems.
of course not seriously, but good for a smile.
I have to say that, after Monday which was a pleasant winter surprise, working me was in despair every morning when it was announced that school was still closed. As someone who has driven up North and out West, I am not fazed by snow and ice and I have never heard of having a whole week of snow days. But this morning, when I left for work at 9 AM, I couldn’t make it up one residential hill and then I skidded 90 degrees around later in a shopping parking lot. So I am real glad that parents weren’t transporting kids to school or buses having to stop on icy hills or teachers/staff coming in on windy, icy roads.
What’s different here vs cold weather parts of the US is:
- No sand and salt before, during, and after snow/sleet
- Most people do not have snow tires or true all weather tires
Another midwesterner’s perspective: I just drove up to Publix from downtown Decatur and I would not characterize the roads as fine. There were many icy patches even on those main streets (Commerce and Clairmont) and many of the residential streets and sidewalks near my house are far, far worse. I think the decision to keep the school’s closed was the right one.
Ah, this is what I love about Decatur–the wide variety of opinions on everything-and always spoken with eloquence!
The sidewalks are still completely treacherous (1st hand experience–my husband walked to work and back today), and CSD does not provide bus service for those living a mile or less from their school. The roads are not the only problem.
In fact walking has become more dangerous as lots of sidewalks have become slicker than at the beginning of the week. The roads are now too dangerous to walk because of car traffic resuming at increased volume and speed. Our neighborhood road is completely clear so we are now back to the sidewalks which are treacherous.
Next time we need all parents to commit to driving around neigborhood road at least 2 hours per day to help melt the ice. We could have had this cleared up by Wednesday.
That’s a really dumb idea.
I think this was a joke. I hope.
Hello? It’s not all about us. Even if we could get all the kids to school safely because Decatur roads are fine, what of the 80% of CSD teachers who don’t live in Decatur but all over the metro area? No teachers=no school.
I think it is mostly those who rely on school for babysitting who have the problem.
Do we really need to get into the stay-at-home-parent vs working parent wars? That’s so 1980s! Parents work for a living full-time in the home, out of the home, part-time in the home, out of the home, sporadically, one-parent, two-parent, three-parents, whatever. Every family, except the few who inherited gads of money, earns their income somehow and has devised an appropriate schedule for child care. Last minute changes in that schedule are tough for some, especially in these hard financial times when some employers are less flexible. In the end, it’s about the kids, not us parents judging one another. What is the best decision for the kids in terms of their physical safety, learning, and the logistics of teachers and staff getting to school safely? That’s what’s important. After driving on the roads yesterday and finding them pretty slidey, I felt comfortable with CSD’s decision. But I sure do think Decatur Rec is terrific to try to come up with a solution for those families who are stuck between a rock and a hard place in terms of child care and earning a living.
Wasn’t trying to start an argument. I agree with you: school closings should be based on safety, not on how they effect the schedules of parents.
I grew up in northern Illinois and I have great memories of playing in the snow. In fact, in the blizzard of 79 we sledded off the roof of our garage. ( in northern IL there are no hills) I’m very happy my kids aren’t sledding off the roof!
That is a good one!
I remember being stuck in a college dorm where the snow drifts blocked the first floor door and we had to go out a second floor window. I’m pretty sure I really remember this vs. having a “days of the giants…” inflated memory.
By overnight Wednesday, my friend’s parents, who live in Rhode Island, had 19″ of snowfall. Their public officials are still offering many of the same warnings we’ve heard all week about about the dangers of ice on the roads. Of course, their public schools are open, with some experiencing delayed starts as plows worked through the streets.
I bet Homer Simpson and Barney Gumble, aka Mr. Plow and The Plow King, could have had almost every street in Decatur cleared by early morning Monday, if only city, county, and state officials were serious in their pledges to employ fictional animated characters for public works.
As it stands, I still don’t trust the shady ice-bound street outside our house, and I’m thankful for having MARTA rail service and open pubs and shops within walking distance.
I’m glad schools are closed. Even if we got our kids to school safely, there’s always the chance they could get injured walking to and from classes, the cafeteria, the gym, etc. on black ice. We walked to the square yesterday and had a few good falls on the ice. I do work from home and my billable hours have been way down this week, but I’m trying to let that not stress me out and enjoy this extra time w/ the kids!
Glad no one has been injured in a sledding or car accident and it seems like alot of people have geniunly enjoyed the respite from the usual hustle and bustle. I am, however, sorry for those who, if they don’t work, they don’t get paid. My thoughts are with them and I hope no businesses suffered too much.
As a CSD teacher who lives in Decatur, but not actually in the CSD district, I am still fortunate enough to be close enough to get to school if needed. As BrianC pointed out, over 80% of teachers do not live (or for that matter, can not afford to live) in the City of Decatur. Those teachers that would be able to make it today would have most likely been late, and the day would have been chaos and ineffective from an educational standpoint.
While I was more than happy to have a day or two off, I also was anxious to get back to work. My colleagues and I actually tried to get into school today, and one of them slipped several times on the ice trying to do so, only to be told that the school wasn’t really even open for us to work.
I think it’s important to remember that CSD, its staff, and parents all have the same goal- to provide a SAFE, nurturing environment where children can learn and grow into amazing little people. All of us are an integral part of that plan, and we need to work together in a positive and productive way in order to do so.
Let’s end it at that. Have a wonderful day.
“As BrianC pointed out, over 80% of teachers do not live (or for that matter, can not afford to live) in the City of Decatur. Those teachers that would be able to make it today would have most likely been late, and the day would have been chaos and ineffective from an educational standpoint.”
Wasn’t me who pointed that out, but I certainly agree.
Oops, sorry, Brian. I read a lot of emails and was trying to put all the info together. Thanks!
And what about falling icecicles and their threat to our kids?? Didn’t any of you see Christmas Story during one of its 238 showings last month and realize the potential for danger (especially for kids who wear glasses)??
If I were in charge I probably wouldn’t have opened the schools this week either. I’ve been out and about all week, and unlike a lot of people I thought the roads were atrocious on Wed-Fri. They actually got worse over the week.
And remember, the entire metro ATL area has had the schools closed all week, not just Decatur.
But I’m a little disappointed that our little town and school district could not overachieve and overcome the challenges. We are uniquely set up to deal with this – neighborhood elementary schools and central locations for the rest, so they are all walkable for 90% or more of the kids. And we’ve got a charter school district that can have more flexibility and self-autonomy than the others, so we could conceivably have command decisions made to keep them open and excuse the kids who can’t make it.
The condition of the sidewalks and the fact that teachers are not able to walk obviously prevented this from happening, but I hope that in the future we press our advantages and see if we can be better than the rest in dealing with these types of situations.
On a related note, the Oakhurst Village businesses absolutely rocked this week. They were open and they were mobbed. Kind of supports my point that a lot of us don’t need cars or clear streets and sidewalks to go on with our lives.