Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: eskimo2 on February 14, 2007, 02:31:05 AM
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I grew up in Alaska; it took several feet of snow overnight to close school. I don’t think they ever closed school for it being too cold. A couple of friends in Alaska think that we had outside recess regardless of the temperature. I remember a minus 20 cut-off for outside recess, but I’m not sure. I’ve heard the cut-off now in Alaska is -20.
I live in Ohio now; a state that borders Lake Erie. Last week it was 6 degrees F. and the wind-chill pushed it down to -19; schools were closed for two days. I played outside for hours each day. Yesterday and today it’s been snowing non-stop but we have less than a foot of snow; schools were closed yesterday and tomorrow (it’s still snowing in the middle of the night). I went out for pizza last night; the roads were snowy, but reasonably plowed. Even my neighborhood street has been plowed a couple of times in the past 24 hours.
Have places in the northern 48 states always been so timid?
What does it take to close schools in your area?
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A lot of people around here were pretty surprised when schools closed down. I can't remember schools ever closing for any reason short of 8-12 inches of snow overnight, yet they closed down here too. No reason other than the cold. I can understand it if the busses won't start or something, but it was just cold. Put on an extra sweatshirt and bundle up, idiots.
We're turning into a bunch of pansies.
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"In my day, we walked 40 miles in our bare feet in 30 inches of snow.."
Screw that macho bull****, anyone who gets out of bed when it drops below 40 degrees is an idiot and should be shot on sight
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Eskimo,
My wife worked for 3 months at a hospital in the northeast, and they had to implement some fairly extreme measures anytime the temperature dropped below zero due to some deaths. You can't lock exit doors, but that means occasionally you'll get a patient who takes a wrong turn and winds up outside in the cold at night in an alleyway behind the hospital annex. They had an elderly and slightly confused patient and a "merely" sick patient exit and die from exposure halfway back to the front door... There is no way to hold every patient's hand 24 hrs a day, no way to guard all exits, no way to confine patients to certain areas.
Schools are the same way. You can't watch every single kid every second, not with the level of school supervision nowadays since every volunteer must go through a federal background check and meet other strict requirements. So if there's a chance a kid is going to be found frozen solid out by the dumpster, they're going to be inclined to close the school whether it's in Alaska or South Texas.
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Schools are a bit more scared of lawyers these days.
It's much more sensible to take a day off when extreme weather hits and make it up later than get slapped by a multi million dollar lawsuit.
For me, I walked to school every day. A snowday was a god send.
These days I work outside. Yesterday was single digits and a stiff wind which drove the temp well below zero. I'm sure hoping the boss calls today off. Yesterday was stupid cold. It's tough to hold and drive nails with three pairs of gloves on.
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I have never been to a school or heard of one that has closed for snow or low temperatures. I know there is a rule that sais something about schools having to close if its below a sertain temp _inside_ but never outside.
I have however heard about schools closing up north in the autumn and winter under severe storms when you cant move about on the roads or if roofs are in danger of blowing off.
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If someone even says the word "snow" down here the whole state shuts down.
*edited because of incomplete word.
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Originally posted by eskimo2
I grew up in Alaska; it took several feet of snow overnight to close school. I don’t think they ever closed school for it being too cold. A couple of friends in Alaska think that we had outside recess regardless of the temperature. I remember a minus 20 cut-off for outside recess, but I’m not sure. I’ve heard the cut-off now in Alaska is -20.
I walk my daughter to school every day two blocks. downhill,both ways ;)
But seriously. there is a lady I often end up talking to who just moved here from Alaska and we had this very same conversation.
Cut off time for recess is -20. but she says its a much more dry cold there then here with not much in the way of wind.
She says it "feels" colder here then in Alaska due to the humidity and wind chill
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The people of Pennsylvania are notorious for panicking when the least amount of snow is on the way.
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Another factor is how much snow a region usually gets and the amount of snow equipment available.
Let's not forget kids have to stand in the cold and wait for buses.
Then there's the staff that has to walk in on icy sidewalks. Workman's comp is a hassle for corporations. Unions and all.
Or the kids that drive to school. Most of 'em are inexperienced. One wreck and you have moms and dads claiming shouldn't have been in session at all. Lawsuit.
The public has a lot more to do with how a school operates than most guess.
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My wife went to college that was next to a hospital. Their rule was that classes were canceled and the school closed when the hospital was closed. :D
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Bus stop story:
When I was in junior high we had a bus that was very inconsistent with its arrival time. We would wait often for 10 minutes in near zero temperatures. We started bringing stuff to burn and would have a small fire while we waited. This was all at an intersection of two pretty major roads; hundreds of cars drove by and no one ever said a thing. One day a kid brought a half gallon of gas and poured it on the fire. As he poured the fire raced up the pour stream toward the can. He panicked, threw the can up in the air and ran. The can spun and flung flaming gas onto his coat and pants. He kept running until he heard everyone yelling “stop, drop and roll”. So he stopped, dropped and rolled while we smothered him with snow. I don’t think he had any serious burns but he ruined his clothes. I think we discontinued our bus stop fires after that.
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Schools were closed here today due to some freezing rain at night. I just went out at 8 this morning, got breakfast, gas, and picked up my check from work. (Mind you, school here starts at 9). I didn't notice any ice on any roads, and from what I could see the sun was already drying most of the water on the roads from the RAIN.
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Its whacky here. They give the kids just so many snow days. But they hate to make em up at the end if they exceed the given number. So in the beginning, especially if icy, they cancel at the drop of a hat...towards March, it could snow 3 ft and they'd find a way to ship em in.
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Another school transportation story:
When I was in high school I had a different beater car each year. During my senior year I had a bug. It broke down in the winter and I spent a few weeks tearing it apart and fixing it. Meanwhile, I had no ride to school. It was less than a mile to school but it was cold and I was a stupid high school kid who didn’t dress properly. I found that if I waited at the nearest intersection I could hook a ride on the back of a car or city bus. They would slow down considerably for the corner and I would sprint a few steps, grab onto the bumper and hang on in a squat (lower than the trunk). The streets were snow covered so I could just slide along behind the car or bus and they never knew I was there. As they approached the high school I’d just let go; I was a good skier so I could just glide to a stop in the middle of the street. I could usually time my release so that I would be stopped in front of the school doors. The busses were most exciting because they drove the fastest; like maybe 35 mph. After a couple of weeks I realized that even though this was sort of fun, it also kind of sucked and was a bit dangerous. Sometimes wait a few minutes and not be able to catch a ride if cars turned the corner too fast to grab on; I’d end up walking to school after waiting for nothing. That also sucked.
Then came plan B.
I took the brake pads off of my 10-speed and wound wire around the tires and rims. I figured they would be kind of like mini tire chains. It worked well enough that I could ride on snow. I rode my bike to school on the snow packed roads for several weeks until I fixed my car. Note that this was in the days before mountain bikes and studded tires. No one rode bikes in the winter back then. Now hundreds do in Anchorage.
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Our schools closed yesterday because it rained. It was supposed to turn to sleet and snow in the evening but they didn't want to take the chance.
It didn't start sleeting till around 7pm. What maroons.
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Originally posted by Mightytboy
What maroons.
(http://www.scrapbookingmadeeasy.com.au/shopping/images/maroon.jpg) (http://www.scrapbookingmadeeasy.com.au/shopping/images/maroon.jpg) (http://www.scrapbookingmadeeasy.com.au/shopping/images/maroon.jpg) ???
:D
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Yep, schools closed here too, but we got about 11" of snow last night. They actually closed schools last week for the cold, but after doing some research on why, it is because they use biodiesel in the school busses. It actually will thicken up to where it won't burn without additives. So, since they estimate that 80% of the kids in the public schools ride the busses, they just closed school.
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We're getting pounded here in the Northeast right now.
Kieren hit it right on the head, lawsuits.
And usually when school is closed, its a call based on discussion between the bus company and the superintendents. If the buses dont feel they can operate safely, they wont.
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I think it's 12" here, or it might just depend on how the school board is feeling that morning. The school district I'm in is notorious for keeping school open as long as they can, which in retrospect is a good thing. Meanwhile a private school 3 miles away slams the doors and closes school at the mere sight of snow. I'm not sure about cold purely closing school, I'm sure they have a set limit, I've just never read into it or had it happen. We did have school closed due to "hazardous road conditions" or something a few weeks ago.
We only have 2 days allotted for snow days though and we've already used them this year so they are extremely hesitant to close now.
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Originally posted by Kieran
Another factor is how much snow a region usually gets and the amount of snow equipment available.
Let's not forget kids have to stand in the cold and wait for buses.
Or the kids that drive to school. Most of 'em are inexperienced. One wreck and you have moms and dads claiming shouldn't have been in session at all. Lawsuit.
awwe poor kiddies haveta wait in the cold and snow!
Yet. if the school closes what is it those very same kids do but go out and play in in that very same cold and snow everyone is so concerned about them having to wait for a bus in..
No the real reason is lawsuits and the Bus companies insurance companies
Insurance companies have alot more to do with how a school operates as well as other things then people realise ;)
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Drediock,
That would all be true if parents behaved rationally, which a lot of times they don't. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. And boy, do they looooove to call school board members around here.
As Mightyboy said, we were out yesterday because of rain. But it is fair to say that just 25 miles north of us it iced like no tomorrow. I can't be too hard on our corporation under the circumstances. We were out today because we eventually got the ice, too.
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Schools were closed here today too.
But the way the state handled things they might as well just have closed down everything.
They did next to nothing on the roads till well into the morning hours.
From what Im guessing..guessing mind you cause its the only thing that makes sense to me is they went by the weather report on the local radio station which called for snow accumulation last night to be minimal then changing to rain today "hevy at times"
Well...
thats not quite the way it happened.
didnt really snow much. but it didnt rain either. I wouldnt call it freezing rain as it was already frozen solid by the time it his the ground.
I would best discribe it as frozen drizzle which really was the form of tiny little frozen beads of ice which accumulated to few inches thick.
End result. the roads were insane. It was like trying to drive on a road covered in millions of tiny ballbearings which covered ice. which is essentially what it was
State police said they responded to well over 200 accidents just on the roads they patrol. which is mainly only the major highways.
And on those roads were two fatalities.
Thats not including local and township roads
The state really screwed the pooch on this one
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Back in high school I had a full week of 1/2 days, simply because the lunch lady staff went on strike. No Lunch....No Full Day.
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Originally posted by cav58d
Back in high school I had a full week of 1/2 days, simply because the lunch lady staff went on strike. No Lunch....No Full Day.
and by having 1/2 days they count as full days for required (180 here in NJ) school days
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Growing up in Orange Country in the '70s, we'd often have "smog days" and schools would close up or if the school was already in session, they'd make us stay inside all day until school let out.
ack-ack
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Bah! Ohioans (or is it Ohioites?) are wimps. The coldest recorded temperture in the lower US was in Minnesota.
When...
It's 60 above zero:
Floridians turn on the heat.
People in Minnesota plant gardens.
50 above zero:
Californians shiver uncontrollably.
People in Duluth sunbathe.
40 above zero:
Italian & English cars won't start.
People in Minnesota drive with the windows down.
32 above zero:
Distilled water freezes.
The water in Bemidji gets thicker.
20 above zero:
Floridians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves, wool hats.
People in Minnesota throw on a flannel shirt.
15 above zero:
New York landlords finally turn up the heat.
People in Minnesota have the last cookout before it gets cold.
Zero:
People in Miami all die.
Minnesotans close the windows.
10 below zero:
Californians fly away to Mexico .
People in Minnesota get out their winter coats.
25 below zero:
Hollywood disintegrates.
The Girl Scouts in Minnesota are selling cookies door to door.
40 below zero:
Washington DC runs out of hot air.
People in Minnesota let the dogs sleep indoors.
100 below zero:
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
Minnesotans get upset because they can't start the Mini-Van.
460 below zero:
ALL atomic motion stops (absolute zero on the Kelvin scale.)
People in Minnesota start saying..."Cold 'nuff fer ya?"
500 below zero:
Hell freezes over.
Minnesota public schools will open 2 hours late.
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Yeah eskimo I live in Canal Fulton (a little below akron) and we had to have gotten at least 15 inches, the most we've gotten in like 10 years, and apparently nobody plowed or salted the roads down here so its hell to get around. I feel your pain. School is closed though
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Originally posted by DREDIOCK
and by having 1/2 days they count as full days for required (180 here in NJ) school days
Nope. If they don't get lunch, it isn't a day. They had to make the time up somehow.
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Originally posted by Kieran
Drediock,
That would all be true if parents behaved rationally, which a lot of times they don't. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. And boy, do they looooove to call school board members around here.
As Mightyboy said, we were out yesterday because of rain. But it is fair to say that just 25 miles north of us it iced like no tomorrow. I can't be too hard on our corporation under the circumstances. We were out today because we eventually got the ice, too.
Parents rational? LMAO!
They love to call them around here too
Originally posted by Kieran
Nope. If they don't get lunch, it isn't a day. They had to make the time up somehow.
Here, half days count as full days. Then again we havent had that situation here either.
But if that were the case. Im surprised they didnt just cancel school for those days altogether
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The reason you go anyway is you have no idea how long the strike might last. Half days are better than no days when it comes to making up weeks' worth of time.