Decatur Schools Will Decide Tomorrow Morning Whether to Cancel School
Decatur Metro | February 13, 2014From CSD…
Dear CSD Families and Staff,
Students and staff should be prepared to return to school with a 2 hour delay start time if weather permits tomorrow morning, Friday, February 14. Families and staff will receive a robocall by 7:00 a.m. saying whether school will be delayed by two hours or canceled completely.
A two hour delay means that if your child normally catches the bus at 7:00, she or he will catch the bus at 9:00 instead. If your child is a car-rider or a walker, add two hours to the regular school start time. Check the Schools webpage for school start times: http://www.csdecatur.net/
schools Staff should report to work two hours later than normal. So if the regular staff start time is 7:30, then staff should report to work at 9:30.
School dismissal time will remain the same.
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So I’m confused. Is it a possibility that school will be delayed for 2 hours or a possibility that school will be cancelled but if not definitely starting 2 hours late? If it is only a possibility that school will start late the kids have to be up and ready for school by 7am any way. Is this CDSs way of trying to make up for cancelling on Tues? Wed and Thurs were valid calls, and in all probability tomorrow too. Lots of ice still on the roads with below freezing temps tonight. Besides Winter Break is as of tomorrow arvo — how much work was going to get done any way?
I think this is a great decision. Our school system in NC used to do this all the time. My guess is that school will happen tomorrow but will start later. Don’t forget that this will have to be made up either in the summer or over spring break or by having later dismissals every day for the rest of the year. I prefer to get as much school time in as possible now and have less to make up later. If they start two hours late tomorrow, they get credit for the entire school day.
You obviously don’t have two working parents in your household who need to know what to do tonight.
serious respect to those two working parent families and their ability to roll with these extraordinary punches. i’ve been self-employed so long it’s easy to forget the luxury of flexibility. i can imagine certain employers saying, “you’ve been off since Tuesday, and now you want to roll in at 9:30 on Friday or maybe not come in at all?”
hope everyone’s bosses are cooler than my imagination.
If it makes you feel better, it’s not necessarily an either/or proposition. Just because we weren’t in the office doesn’t mean we weren’t working. Wife and I took turns wrangling the kids and I got almost as much done from home as I would have had I gone in. I’m thankful I work a job where that’s possible.
And add me to the list of people thankful for the prudence and pragmatism of COD. I didn’t even mind them closing Tuesday. Most places (including my office) did out of an abundance of caution.
I do, and we are happy that school is a real possibility tomorrow instead of premature cancellation in an abundance of caution.
You obviously have never lived in an area that deals with frequent snow because this is how schools do things up there all the time, and somehow parents and workplaces manage.
The amount of school that has been missed is getting ridiculous. A day in school tomorrow can be used to get kids back on track, tell them when missed projects and tests will happen, and assign catch up work over the break so everyone is on the same page and ready to roll when we finally return from February break. Tomorrow is important for the kids and their learning. If the students don’t get a chance to check in tomorrow, it will take several days, perhaps another full week, to catch up when they finally do return.
However, our school system has to balance educational needs with safety, and it’s a very hard call. I appreciate them doing the best they can to do their jobs… which is to educate our kids… not to placate parents,
I haven’t and I don’t and I won’t, which means this is not normal for me or this area. This came late in the game and was unexpected. That is the problem. Because it is expected and normal for you, does not mean that anyone else has ever had a school closing like this. Tomorrow is not so important for kids and their learning. That is an absolutely hilarious statement. The school can extend the year by a few days or cut out spring break if it is so vital, but one partial day will not make or break anyone.
OK, if knowing ahead of time is super important, then just assume that your kids are not going to school tomorrow. If school is on, keep them home because in your opinion, nothing important is going to happen, and it won’t make or break anything. Your kids can call friends to find out when their projects/finals have been rescheduled, or you can email the teachers yourself and explain your situation. Plus, your kids will be thrilled to have another day off, and you will be the biggest Mom/Dad Hero ever. Then the day is definite, and you can plan. Others, who think tomorrow might be an important day and are used to a little uncertainty in the mornings can send their kids on in.
I have a high schooler and middle schooler who would both disagree with the statement that the idea of tomorrow being important is “absolutely hilarious.” This past week was the end of the term, and they both had summatives all week. They take school seriously and are stressing and, like you, would like some advance notice of what will take place in the future. They can hopefully get that advance notice on when their summatives are rescheduled tomorrow ….from their teachers, in person. I thank CSD for trying to make that happen. The students value advance notice just like you do, and they can get that tomorrow if they go to school. It’s great to cater to parents as much as possible, but CSD’s first responsibility is to students, not to parents.
That’s Number Wang!
Shot down in flames
Shot down in flames
Ain’t it a shame
To be shot down in flames?
“Shot Down in Flames”
AC/DC
Vast majority of the roads are fine. There may be a few patches of ice tomorrow morning, but why does the whole system have to start late?
Because teachers have to drive and take buses.
Then those individuals who can’t (or won’t) come in can take the day off. Where do you draw the line if the vast majority of teachers are able to make it to work?
Our high schooler has 2 tests scheduled for tomorrow — need guidance from teachers via email, please! Does a 2 hour delay mean shortened classes and no tests, or something else?
Well, some students aren’t studying at all. When there was no notice by 6 PM that school was open tomorrow and all the other school systems cancelled, a bunch assumed that school was off tomorrow and went to the Dome tonight for some big soccer event. Is there an International Baccalaureate (IB) grade for went-to-international-sporting-event-instead-of-studying?
For me, “maybe this or maybe that” is the hardest to deal with. I have one set of strategies and communications if school is delayed and open and another if school is closed. Having to wait until 7 AM to start implementing one or the other is not feasible. So I’m putting my money on delayed and open.
On the other hand, we have electricity and the tree canopy did not topple onto our house. So I’m trying to be flexible.
Not that I disagree under normal circumstanes, but the schools will basically be closed 3 out of 4 weeks. If at all possible, they need to be open tomorrow regardless of parental inconvenience.
That’s why I bet on delayed and open. Turned out to be right thank goodness.
DHS if open will have a 7 period day, with each period being a 30 minute class.
Enough time for each teacher to get everyone on the same page, assign make up work over the break, and work out when all the missed assignments/projects/tests will be due. So everyone will be ready to roll when they return from the break.
I appreciate that they didn’t cancel all together but said they needed to see how things shaped up in the morning. I hope school goes if not for the little ones to share their valentines…. But I understand it’s a tricky decision.
I agree with NellieBelle. Decide one way or the other, but waiting until day of in this situation is absurd and frankly disrespectful to parents.
Wow. OrangeUGlad you don’t live in the northeast where this is SOP!
BTW, did I ever mention how happy I am that I don’t have kids?
This got me thinking back to when I was a kid late 60s/early 70s and it was — especially where I lived — the norm to have a stay-at-home Mom and a breadwinner Dad.
As a result, schools oftentimes didn’t make an open/close call until 6 or 7 in the morning on the actual day, which seemed to work fine because child-care was already in place however things played out. That way, the decision was typically way less speculative because it was based on actual, on-the-ground conditions, so it was extremely rare that we ever had a day off that turned out to be perfectly nice.
Granted a lot has changed so this isn’t particularly germane to the issue at hand. It’s just an interesting reminder that our circumstances, goals and desires over the years, generally speaking, have led us to certain choices and trends that necessitate the more flawed system we have now. So, we win in some ways; we lose in others. It works out.
Also, in the Northeast, it was easier to make the calls. School buses and family station wagons put on chains when it was snowy or icey. Roads were plowed and sanded as a matter of course, like garbage pickup. A snow day meant that there was a gi-normous snow or ice storm as school opened, before the sand trucks and plows could catch up.
Here, we have all these in between iffy situations–“it might rain but it could turn to sleet” situations in a place that only has so much equipment to handle extreme weather and never has the roads to handle mass migrations home.