Would you send your child to school in this weather?

[William33 110]

Based on your original post, i will seek to contribute to an organization for the education of underprivileged children. Keep in mind that we (my wife and I ) already contribute in Indonesia....

[slim 1,530]

Would you send your child to school in this sort of weather if they didn't have the clothing for it?

You're asking parents something....

That's already taking this a little too far. If 80+% of your kids are on free lunch but have money for bling, I'm assuming not too many parents are making the "tough" decisions for their kids.

would keep her warm if she had to stand for 20 minutes in this sort of cold waiting for a bus in the dark.

Why would she wait outside for 20 minutes for the bus? Is there really that big of a window of when the bus could arrive? Even walking from home to the bus stop, she shouldn't be exposed for more than 5-10 minutes, max.

At 15-20 degrees, even a light coat will keep a kid warm for up to 20 minutes. And going from class to class, a uniform - even with short sleeves - is more than enough protection. Duration of exposure is key here, not level of protection. They may not be comfortable, but it wouldn't be unsafe.

I'm in a position where I would not have to have her wait in the cold,

So is every other parent, and from the sounds of it, many of the kids!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Like most of the country, we are experiencing especially cold weather. It's supposed to be about 20 degrees F tomorrow morning when the students are meant to catch the bus (at about 6:00 AM). We never have this kind of weather and our winters are rather short, so while my students might wear expensive shoes, flashy bling, mulitple tatoos, or gold grills, understandably, they don't spend money on heavy winter coats. Many of them walk around school with towels as blankets rather than any coat at all. We can't even get really cold-weather clothing here except at sporting goods stores. And their uniform pants are cotton.

I'm not blaming the school board for not cancelling school. I understand where they are coming from. And as far as I'm concerned, I would rather teach tomorrow than have to make up a day come summer time. But I don't think I'd send my child to school on such a day. Most schools here are designed so that you have to go outside to get from class to class.

Would you send your child to school in this sort of weather if they didn't have the clothing for it?

What a whiner. 20 degrees is a good HIGH temperature for us at this time of year. -20 isn't unusual. -40 is unusual but happens. Our son waits for the bus every morning, he just got on the bus....11 degrees right now. Yes he has a coat. and hat and gloves and boots. Then this afternoon at a balmy 21 degrees he will spend a few hours on the windswept frozen lake with a para-sail and his snowboard going 30 mph over the frozen lake surface and barely get a runny nose. Or if his friend comes over he will be ripping over the lake at 60 mph (or more) on a snowmobile.

Layers...think layers. A couple of sweatshirts equals a coat, add a T-shirt underneath. Quit acting like you are something special, bundle the kid up and get them out there, it is good for the immune system. OR go buy a coat.

Global warming has been fixed by Al Gore, it is going to get colder now all over the planet and you will be needing it anyway. Thank goodness, right?

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Never mind. Just got the call that school has been cancelled. There is supposed to be ice on the roads, and drivers here aren't used to driving on ice, so it is too dangerous to put kids in buses. Good decision. And I'm happy for my students that they don't have to decide to freeze their butts off or rack up an unexcused absense.

I think you are glad you got a paid day off work.

Our roads are always snow covered from December until march. Big deal. Now that global warming has been reversed, I think your school district ought to send their drivers up to the winter driving school in Vermont and get prepared.

[GabiandVi 34]

I think you are glad you got a paid day off work.

Our roads are always snow covered from December until march. Big deal. Now that global warming has been reversed, I think your school district ought to send their drivers up to the winter driving school in Vermont and get prepared.

I will make up this day, as will all the students, at the end of the school year. This is lengthening my year. If you had read my original post, you would see I would rather get it over with now.

Our roads are NEVER covered with snow. We don't have chains. We don't have snow plows. We don't have snow tires. But let's put a bunch of kids in a bus in that situation. That'll prove what good educators we are.

The point is, you have the weather, you have the clothes. We don't have the weather, my students don't have the clothes. But you'd send your child out in this weather without the clothes?

[Niels Bohr 72]

I think it's laziness of not going out to school. For me, at that age, I was worried that I would miss school rather than going to school. If it was my kid, I would give them high expectations.

[NickD 203]

20*F around here would be a welcomed heat wave, always took my kids to school and picked them up. Even living out in the country, school was only two miles away, but with the bus service they had, would have to leave two hours earlier and get home just about that time. As a kid raised in Chicago, used the CTA for that, can't believe I was doing that at four years old. But if I lost my money, would have to walk home. One time was attacked by a bunch of black kids that took my jacket, shirt, and pants, but I made it home, a bit blue, but survived it. When I started the fifth grade, mom moved out to the country, preferred running to school, wasn't one of these fat kids you see today. Four miles, took about 30 minutes, shorter as I grew.

A few years ago, almost struck and killed a six year old girl that walked right in front of me, snow banks were five feet high and roads were icy. Really rose a stink in our town as to why the school superintendent was put in charge of calling these really bad days off when we have a police department that knows the conditions of the road. Editor of our paper took over, so they changed the rules. In no way in hell did that superintendent wanted to call a school day off that would affect his summer vacation. Raise hell with your city government.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Just my two cents. If the weather is extremely cold and this is very unusual for that region, the schools have a responsibility to address the issue to the students and parents, as well as make reasonable accommodations. For example, announcing to all students, the requirement to come to school wearing a jacket. Sending a letter home to the parents, letting them know that they will be called to come pick up their child if they sent them to school inadequately dressed. Setting up a community program where people can donate coats for the school children.

I can understand your frustration as a teacher, Gabi, especially in trying to be sympathetic, or perhaps pragmatic to the issues where kids are coming to school inadequately dressed for the weather, but the school can do something about it. Maybe you feel the school doesn't do enough, but then that's where your frustration should be aimed at, IMO.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) - Late Thursday afternoon Calcasieu Parish Schools announced all schools will be closed tomorrow due to extremely cold temperatures.

Based on the latest weather advisory, school officials were greatly concerned with the safety of students going to the bus stop Friday morning.

Superintendent Wayne Savoy says there are 17,000 students in the district who wait for the bus at the bus stop everyday.

In addition that amount, there are 4,000 students in Calcasieu Parish who walk to school everyday because they live within the walking zone.

Savoy says he felt it was best to not take any chances and keep kids away from the bitter cold.

"I just thought that it would be in the best interest of all of our children to not have school tomorrow," says Savoy. "Announcing it now will give parents and guardians an opportunity to make arrangements for their children not being in school tomorrow."

School officials say principals will be monitoring their schools over the weekends to make sure that no pipes have frozen.

http://www.kplctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11787893

[웃 910]

What a whiner. 20 degrees is a good HIGH temperature for us at this time of year. -20 isn't unusual. -40 is unusual but happens. Our son waits for the bus every morning, he just got on the bus....11 degrees right now. (...) Then this afternoon at a balmy 21 degrees he will spend a few hours on the windswept frozen lake with a para-sail and his snowboard going 30 mph over the frozen lake surface and barely get a runny nose. Or if his friend comes over he will be ripping over the lake at 60 mph (or more) on a snowmobile.

[Peikko 1,575]

Good parenting, a warm coat in a cold climate

Hehehe, missing a day of school is not a disaster, smell the roses, yay!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I will make up this day, as will all the students, at the end of the school year. This is lengthening my year. If you had read my original post, you would see I would rather get it over with now.

Our roads are NEVER covered with snow. We don't have chains. We don't have snow plows. We don't have snow tires. But let's put a bunch of kids in a bus in that situation. That'll prove what good educators we are.

The point is, you have the weather, you have the clothes. We don't have the weather, my students don't have the clothes. But you'd send your child out in this weather without the clothes?

Go buy a coat and quit whining. I grew up in West Texas, I am from the south. We had coats. What gives? I never said I would send them out without clothes, I am not DAFT! They have clothes, I bought them at the STORE, maybe you don't have stores that sell coats? I do most of my work (construction consulting) outside. I HATE to be inside, even in winter and drink a cold soda and eat my lunch outside when it is below zero F.

Get out and go to school.

http://www.kplctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11787893

Thank goodness Al Gore fixed global warming

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I will make up this day, as will all the students, at the end of the school year. This is lengthening my year. If you had read my original post, you would see I would rather get it over with now.

Our roads are NEVER covered with snow. We don't have chains. We don't have snow plows. We don't have snow tires. But let's put a bunch of kids in a bus in that situation. That'll prove what good educators we are.

The point is, you have the weather, you have the clothes. We don't have the weather, my students don't have the clothes. But you'd send your child out in this weather without the clothes?

Incidentally for the wussified among us...we had 32" of snow Sunday...THIRTY TWO inches in one day, a NEW RECORD for snowfall in 24 hours. It was -6 F Monday morning...ALL schools open for business. The only thing that shuts down schools here is power outages and they are very rare. We haven't had a school closure in the last three years.

The funny thing is all the kids in your area will be outside in this brutal horrible cold of 20 degrees (sounds like afternoon on a sunny day) and will be riding down any hill they can find on a piece of cardboard or plastic, or they will suddenly produce a SLED they keep just for such rare occasions (they have a SLED but not a coat?) And spend all day of their "snow day" outside playing in the snow. But it is dangerous to wait 10 minutes in the morning for a bus? What a crock of horsesqueeze. Our kids go to school and THEN play outside in the snow and we have yet to have a fatality from it. somehow all the Vermont, New Hamphire and Maine kids make it until spring thaws us out...in June. The school provides mutilple BUSSES every Friday afternoon to take students AND teachers up into the mountians for skiing. Our son wouldn't miss it.

Buck up.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

20*F around here would be a welcomed heat wave, always took my kids to school and picked them up. Even living out in the country, school was only two miles away, but with the bus service they had, would have to leave two hours earlier and get home just about that time. As a kid raised in Chicago, used the CTA for that, can't believe I was doing that at four years old. But if I lost my money, would have to walk home. One time was attacked by a bunch of black kids that took my jacket, shirt, and pants, but I made it home, a bit blue, but survived it. When I started the fifth grade, mom moved out to the country, preferred running to school, wasn't one of these fat kids you see today. Four miles, took about 30 minutes, shorter as I grew.

A few years ago, almost struck and killed a six year old girl that walked right in front of me, snow banks were five feet high and roads were icy. Really rose a stink in our town as to why the school superintendent was put in charge of calling these really bad days off when we have a police department that knows the conditions of the road. Editor of our paper took over, so they changed the rules. In no way in hell did that superintendent wanted to call a school day off that would affect his summer vacation. Raise hell with your city government.

Um...you can't say you were attacked by black kids. It is racist.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Gary, it's time to step away from the computer and take your medication.