It isn't the snow. It is the ice. One school bus accident because of icy roads and the DSM school system is hit with a lawsuit so big that it will blow your mind. It isn't about being tough, it is about being smart and safe.
1-11 Weather Thread
- Thread starter ClonesTwentyOne
- Start date
It isn't the snow. It is the ice. One school bus accident because of icy roads and the DSM school system is hit with a lawsuit so big that it will blow your mind. It isn't about being tough, it is about being smart and safe.
So we're going to seriously need to bump up our number of snow days for the calendar year. We have slippery roads quite often during the winter.
Ohhh boy, nothing gets the kids excited like light crew neck sweatshirt weather.
This isn't a new thing and we don't seem to have many more snow days than "normal".
Did they even have any last winter in Ames or the DSM metro? It was so light on precipitation last year.
Ya I get that but I’ve seen the schools open in much worse conditions than this so why weren’t they worried about that all of those other times?
I think it has very little to do with liability and much more to do with timing. And the fact it was first storm when school was in session and they tend to error on side of caution during the first one.
What is the problem with a better safe than sorry approach to these kinds of things? You can always track a couple days one the end of the year when the weather will be fine. You can't undo any accidents or injuries that may happen if you push your luck and have school one a day that you shouldn't. It is one school day, no big deal.
It was warm down here in Ottumwa around 7a. (I think a WHO-TV graphic I saw said 48°) By 9:45a, I was chipping away at my car from being encased in ice. Also saw a car spin out on one of the bridges here. Ottumwa school district kinda bungled it by not cancelling classes, then deciding to let classes out at 10:30. Ugh. Headache for working parents.
The problem comes with daycare of kids. Many people don't have anything set up for daycare during snow days. It is one thing for real bad snow days but when we get 1/2 inch of snow and they close it down that starts to become a problem.
This is Iowa. Plan ahead for winter. It's not rocket science.
I lived in coastal VA and when it snowed everything shut down for a few days. Being born and raised in IA I had no issues with that because watching those people drive was absolutely terrifying.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
When I couldn't find a bear to fight on my way to school, I'd walk miles out of my way, uphill every way, fight a bear or a den of bears, and I still made it to school on time, ready and excited to learn.
Millennials.
Our superintendent made a call like that back in the late 90's up in rural NW IA. Blizzard warnings galore and we didn't even have a late start. The roads were already crappy on the way to school and the blizzard hit around 10:00 but early out didn't happen until closer to noon. By that time you had buses and high school kids driving in a complete white out. It wasn't good and the guy took some serious heat for it. n I have no issues with the cautious approach.
