They called today at 5:30. Someone already complained that it was too late. They rarely call it the night before unless it's like crazy blizzard like conditions.
They can't win. I think it's just something we deal with.
Post by notreallyirish on Mar 2, 2015 7:29:33 GMT -5
We get a text so it's not that irritating. But if it's really late or early I figure it's so people can plan ahead. They have to balance having enough information and letting people know as soon as possible.
Post by lovebeingmama on Mar 2, 2015 7:46:56 GMT -5
Working parents need time to find alternate care for their kids or make arrangements to stay home themselves. Teachers don't always live in town and in the case of storms often need to leave for school prior to 5:30 am (to clear off snow, take traffic into account, slippery roads and slow driving, etc). If districts call a snow day too early (like 7 pm the night before), the forecast could be wrong and a snow day isn't really necessary. Our district often waits until last minute - 5 am - to make a decision. Early morning calls may annoy you, but they are necessary for the staff and working parents, as well as people who may otherwise miss an email or text and send their kid off to school - that has happened in the past, too.
5am is totally fine. Out district schools operate on a 9-3 schedule so I'm unsure why prior to 5 is somehow necessary.
If you typically left for work at 6:00 am (not uncommon) you'd be pissed off to find out they called and cancelled school right before you left .
I used to live 20 miles away from school. On a good day, it took an hour to drive there. In a snow storm, it could take almost 3 hours. One snowy morning I was clearing snow off my car at 4:30 am so I could be on the road by 5:00 and MAYBE be on time for school at 8:30. I was already driving in dangerous conditions when they called at about 5:00. Do I wish they had called at 11 pm or 4 am? Hell yes. Do I understand why they didn't call it the evening before, with Chicago's unpredictable weather? Yep.
I usually don't jump in on the "KC doesn't get it" posts, but this one is really a case of SAHM bubble syndrome. Not everyone has the luxury you have when school is cancelled.
Post by expectantsteelerfan on Mar 2, 2015 8:11:08 GMT -5
I don't need to know right away if there is a cancellation (my kids get up at 6 regardless of what day it is). So I just moved my phone and charger downstairs so that I don't get woken up by alerts. Works for me.
5am is totally fine. Out district schools operate on a 9-3 schedule so I'm unsure why prior to 5 is somehow necessary.
Totally being devil's advocate -- with a 9-3 schedule for public schools, I have to imagine that a significant number of kids go to some sort of before care right? I am guessing many kids and parents start their day earlier.
Ours calls at 5-5:30. I suspect that there are teachers who were already out clearing their cars to get to work if they have any sort of commute since we start at 8, so I hope it caught them before they did all that work. I don't care when they call, I know a lot of parents who are struggling making arrangements for the number of closings and delays we've had that were unwarranted and work was still open, so they call when they do. Better than canceling the night before to give lots of notice to wake up to passable streets, which is also problematic.
Post by notreallyirish on Mar 2, 2015 8:47:45 GMT -5
Okay, what is the downside here? It's annoying or wakes you up? Turn your phone ringer down. If that is somehow impossible, it's a slight annoyance. Get over it. There are people for whom getting a late night or very early message makes a difference. There are people up really late or early trying to make the call on whether to cancel. Annoying some sleeping mom is not the top of their list of concerns.
5am is totally fine. Out district schools operate on a 9-3 schedule so I'm unsure why prior to 5 is somehow necessary.
If you typically left for work at 6:00 am (not uncommon) you'd be pissed off to find out they called and cancelled school right before you left .
I used to live 20 miles away from school. On a good day, it took an hour to drive there. In a snow storm, it could take almost 3 hours. One snowy morning I was clearing snow off my car at 4:30 am so I could be on the road by 5:00 and MAYBE be on time for school at 8:30. I was already driving in dangerous conditions when they called at about 5:00. Do I wish they had called at 11 pm or 4 am? Hell yes. Do I understand why they didn't call it the evening before, with Chicago's unpredictable weather? Yep.
I usually don't jump in on the "KC doesn't get it" posts, but this one is really a case of SAHM bubble syndrome. Not everyone has the luxury you have when school is cancelled.
Edit: clarified a time
I understand families work and commute but I'm guessing no one is driving more than four hours prior. Also around here anyway if there is a storm with 2-3 inches overnight at the very least there's going to be an hour delay which means you don't need to leave at five to be at work for 10. I get in different districts they have different hours, are more conservative with cancellations, etc. Here they grant a delay for the slightest bit of snow so there's really no reason to be calling before 5am.
No one calls or texts at all here. You have to wait for the radio/tv/website to post the lists. They are usually complete by 7am. The only time we were ever called was when my father was a bus driver. They'd leave a message before 6 so he didn't have to get ready.
They called today at 5:30. Someone already complained that it was too late. They rarely call it the night before unless it's like crazy blizzard like conditions.
They can't win. I think it's just something we deal with.
I agree 530 is too late. I just don't get when they see the weather is severe and more snow is coming do it at 9pm. If it's a coin toss make the call at 5. For a school district starting at nearly 9am (855) I think that's sufficient.
No one calls or texts at all here. You have to wait for the radio/tv/website to post the lists. They are usually complete by 7am. The only time we were ever called was when my father was a bus driver. They'd leave a message before 6 so he didn't have to get ready.
And really that's what they should do here. I live in a small town comprised of middle/upper middle class families. I get in urban areas where there are poor families who don't have access to internet or cable a call is more fitting. There is not an issue in my zip code.
If you typically left for work at 6:00 am (not uncommon) you'd be pissed off to find out they called and cancelled school right before you left .
I used to live 20 miles away from school. On a good day, it took an hour to drive there. In a snow storm, it could take almost 3 hours. One snowy morning I was clearing snow off my car at 4:30 am so I could be on the road by 5:00 and MAYBE be on time for school at 8:30. I was already driving in dangerous conditions when they called at about 5:00. Do I wish they had called at 11 pm or 4 am? Hell yes. Do I understand why they didn't call it the evening before, with Chicago's unpredictable weather? Yep.
I usually don't jump in on the "KC doesn't get it" posts, but this one is really a case of SAHM bubble syndrome. Not everyone has the luxury you have when school is cancelled.
Edit: clarified a time
I understand families work and commute but I'm guessing no one is driving more than four hours prior. Also around here anyway if there is a storm with 2-3 inches overnight at the very least there's going to be an hour delay which means you don't need to leave at five to be at work for 10. I get in different districts they have different hours, are more conservative with cancellations, etc. Here they grant a delay for the slightest bit of snow so there's really no reason to be calling before 5am.
I know several people growing up who had jobs starting at six. Had to be there at least 15 minutes prior. they had to drop the kids off at before-school care at 515, so they would be up and out of the house well before then. It happens.
They called today at 5:30. Someone already complained that it was too late. They rarely call it the night before unless it's like crazy blizzard like conditions.
They can't win. I think it's just something we deal with.
I agree 530 is too late. I just don't get when they see the weather is severe and more snow is coming do it at 9pm. If it's a coin toss make the call at 5. For a school district starting at nearly 9am (855) I think that's sufficient.
Not necessarily. DH had to be at work at 9 this morning, so he started shoveling at 5:30 and still barely made it. And that's with only a 20 minute commute. If he had to commute longer that means he would have been out shoveling that much earlier, especially if the roads are iffy and he needed to allow extra time to get to work.
I understand families work and commute but I'm guessing no one is driving more than four hours prior. Also around here anyway if there is a storm with 2-3 inches overnight at the very least there's going to be an hour delay which means you don't need to leave at five to be at work for 10. I get in different districts they have different hours, are more conservative with cancellations, etc. Here they grant a delay for the slightest bit of snow so there's really no reason to be calling before 5am.
I know several people growing up who had jobs starting at six. Had to be there at least 15 minutes prior. they had to drop the kids off at before-school care at 515, so they would be up and out of the house well before then. It happens.
I'm not saying that there are obviously no schools anywhere that have an early start. We don't so it's dumb/unnecessary they call so early.
I agree 530 is too late. I just don't get when they see the weather is severe and more snow is coming do it at 9pm. If it's a coin toss make the call at 5. For a school district starting at nearly 9am (855) I think that's sufficient.
Not necessarily. DH had to be at work at 9 this morning, so he started shoveling at 5:30 and still barely made it. And that's with only a 20 minute commute. If he had to commute longer that means he would have been out shoveling that much earlier, especially if the roads are iffy and he needed to allow extra time to get to work.
If the roads are that bad it takes four hours for a 20 minute commute are schools starting on time? If one lives in an area where they never get delayed or cancelled I could understand this. Here during one bad snowstorm kids got stranded on busses until 11pm so they over cancel. We got maybe three inches, dhs 15 mile commute took 10 minutes longer...and we are on a delay/am preschools/kindergarten are cancelled.
Not necessarily. DH had to be at work at 9 this morning, so he started shoveling at 5:30 and still barely made it. And that's with only a 20 minute commute. If he had to commute longer that means he would have been out shoveling that much earlier, especially if the roads are iffy and he needed to allow extra time to get to work.
If the roads are that bad it takes four hours for a 20 minute commute are schools starting on time? If one lives in an area where they never get delayed or cancelled I could understand this. Here during one bad snowstorm kids got stranded on busses until 11pm so they over cancel. We got maybe three inches, dhs 15 mile commute took 10 minutes longer...and we are on a delay/am preschools/kindergarten are cancelled.
It was the shoveling that took hours, not the driving. Our driveway is long. Not the longest I've seen, not by a lot, but long enough to take a few hours to clear enough to get out. I'm quite certain we aren't alone in this. The obvious solution would be a snow blower, but money and stuff (plus we're only here for a year, so we don't want to sink money into something we may not need next year).
But he'd still be very annoyed if he took all that time to shovel out then found out after the fact that he could have slept later.
I know several people growing up who had jobs starting at six. Had to be there at least 15 minutes prior. they had to drop the kids off at before-school care at 515, so they would be up and out of the house well before then. It happens.
I'm not saying that there are obviously no schools anywhere that have an early start. We don't so it's dumb/unnecessary they call so early.
But it's not just about what time the school day starts; it's about what time working parents have to be in the office. Presumably they need time to work out backup childcare before they get to work.
I'm not saying that there are obviously no schools anywhere that have an early start. We don't so it's dumb/unnecessary they call so early.
But it's not just about what time the school day starts; it's about what time working parents have to be in the office. Presumably they need time to work out backup childcare before they get to work.
Don't people do that the day before? Certainly significant snow to delay/cancel school doesn't come out of nowhere.
I'm not saying that there are obviously no schools anywhere that have an early start. We don't so it's dumb/unnecessary they call so early.
But it's not just about what time the school day starts; it's about what time working parents have to be in the office. Presumably they need time to work out backup childcare before they get to work.
That too. My step sister works in a hospital and starts her day at 6. If they called at 5:30 she'd be screwed. At the same time, she also doesn't want them closing school the night before unnecessarily because then she has to scramble and use up either vacation time or favors from friends/family unnecessarily (if I lived near her I would gladly take her awesome son any and every time, but I'm 2 hours away).
The school districts just.cannot.win. For every person like you complaining it is too early, there is someone complaining it is too late. I just trust they are making the best decisions they can with the info they have.
We got a call and email last night at 11. I really don't care when it comes
But it's not just about what time the school day starts; it's about what time working parents have to be in the office. Presumably they need time to work out backup childcare before they get to work.
Don't people do that the day before? Certainly significant snow to delay/cancel school doesn't come out of nowhere.
Not sure about everyone else, but where I live the forecast is often a crapshoot. Yesterday they predicted we would wake up with 8 inches on the ground. I would have put $$ on school being cancelled. In reality we got less that 2 inches.
Don't people do that the day before? Certainly significant snow to delay/cancel school doesn't come out of nowhere.
Not sure about everyone else, but where I live the forecast is often a crapshoot. Yesterday they predicted we would wake up with 8 inches on the ground. I would have put $$ on school being cancelled. In reality we got less that 2 inches.
Same here but it makes more sense to put backup care on alert the day prior than frantically making calls in the morning, no?
I don't have to worry about finding daycare for snow days but I can only imagine how difficult that would be. I work in a neighboring district, not the district I live in, whose calendar dd's preschool follows. We have different spring breaks this year. It's a month away, I have plenty of family in town and its still a challenge. Finding care the day before or the day of must be a nightmare. Can you really not imagine what that must be like or are you in the mood to fight today?
Post by notreallyirish on Mar 2, 2015 10:10:01 GMT -5
I still don't understand why it is a problem to do it at 4 am if that is the point they know school can't happen. They could wait, but why do they have to? It might be useful for some to know early and what does it hurt?
No one calls or texts at all here. You have to wait for the radio/tv/website to post the lists. They are usually complete by 7am. The only time we were ever called was when my father was a bus driver. They'd leave a message before 6 so he didn't have to get ready.
And really that's what they should do here. I live in a small town comprised of middle/upper middle class families. I get in urban areas where there are poor families who don't have access to internet or cable a call is more fitting. There is not an issue in my zip code.
Ok the bubble is rearing its ugly head again. LOL that it's not an issue in your zip code. And wtf again at the sweeping generalizations of who does and does not have Internet.