Comments on: City Schools of Decatur Closed For Students Friday

By: TeeRuss

TeeRuss — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 18:11:51 +0000

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.

By: Robbie

Robbie — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 18:06:01 +0000

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)??

By: Becky

Becky — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 17:36:28 +0000

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.

By: Teach

Teach — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:56:54 +0000

Oops, sorry, Brian. I read a lot of emails and was trying to put all the info together. Thanks!

By: Brianc

Brianc — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:51:58 +0000

“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.