Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Wind chill is cold, but temporary. In your opinion, when if ever should schools close due to wind chill in Buffalo? IT's a hard question for me to answer. One part of me says, this is Buffalo and it's just a few days, we should be prepared with the right clothing, another part of me says there are irresponsible parents out there who will not make sure that their child is correctly dressed. Just posing the question, to see what others think.
Buffalo and surrounding closed today, but not every school district, mine is still open as of now.
My spouse (who is from Anchorage) thinks that it is wimpy to close schools at 7deg + wind chill. In Anchorage a couple of days ago, they were having -10 (without wind chill, who knows what it is wind the wind chill) and school just went on anyway.
I think there is a tendency to coddle kids too much, to focus in on the one terrible time that something truly horrible happened to one kid - and then we miss out on the bigger lesson that life will sometimes throw you a curve ball and you should be ready for it.
This is Buffalo, our kids should know how to handle cold and wind.
. . . on the other hand, I don't have kids - so my opinion on this doesn't count for a lot.
Buffalo schools, as with many districts outside of Buffalo follow close on the elements when calling for school closings.
They also take into consideration a little word like frostbite.
Quote:
Causes and Risk Factors of Frostbite
Exposure to extremely cold temperatures (32 degrees or below) for prolonged periods of time causes frostbite. The risk becomes greater as the temperature drops and the wind increases.
The risk of frostbite increases with impaired circulation. Those with peripheral vascular disease or diabetes mellitus and those taking beta-blocker drugs are more vulnerable.
Surprisingly, many schools stayed open albeit the dangerously cold weather on the latter part of this week. There are many students that can catch frostbite quite easily waiting for the bus or whatever the case may be - I hope that all went well today! Those winds were killer!
I would have said let em go 4 years ago. Now I have a kid and recognize how fragile they are when they are little. elementary schools, close. High School kids deserve to walk in the cold.
Used to be Buffalo would announce closing up to 7:30. There were even days I left for work and came home in the almost 30 years teaching there. (One was for flooding!) Now, they announce by 6am.... simply because a few years back, a mother (with no common sense) left her little kid (about 6) at the bus stop way before the bus was due (like around 7 am) and went off to work. The bus never showed. Fortunately someone took the kid in. Hence, the rules to close. Having the buses never show during the freak Thanksgiving storm of up to 6 feet in 2000 didn't help the matter. The early buses were on the road home in gridlock and the late schools never got any ( like many staff , I was overnight with the kids). HS kids got on NFTA buses and never got home either. Buffalo's problem is that there are so many schools and so many buses, it is a logistic nightmare when they get a storm... add to that, some of the buses don't start, and drivers double runs or do more than 2 runs... kids can get hypothermia or frostbite. Plus, the city is huge by size and many streets are hardly plowed. Add it up and kids are safer home. Beleive me, it is harder to get in the missed day's work than take the day off.
I would have said let em go 4 years ago. Now I have a kid and recognize how fragile they are when they are little. elementary schools, close. High School kids deserve to walk in the cold.
If high school students live within a mile from their school they are not eligable for a (metro) bus pass, meaning they'll have to walk. I couldn't imagine sending my child out into a -14 wind chill to walk a block, not to mention 40 blocks to get to school. Students who live in North Buffalo go to schools in South Buffalo, and vise-versa, thus having to take 2-3 busses sometimes. Big kids have to wait at bus stops like little ones.
When your child becomes high school age, would you expect them to walk in elements as today, as you have suggested mine should? Just wondering.
Most kids like me who go to school in buffalo have to walk sometimes more then a half hour to school because we aren't aloud bus passes because of how close we live. Everyday Its cold I have to have my dad give me a ride but in the end im still standing outside for about 45 minutes because we can't get into the school even thou it's so cold. Most of us just make sure we wear layers of clothes some who will end up with frost bite are the ones who dress inappropriately while its this cold.
Most kids like me who go to school in buffalo have to walk sometimes more then a half hour to school because we aren't aloud bus passes because of how close we live. Everyday Its cold I have to have my dad give me a ride but in the end im still standing outside for about 45 minutes because we can't get into the school even thou it's so cold. Most of us just make sure we wear layers of clothes some who will end up with frost bite are the ones who dress inappropriately while its this cold.
Most kids never had to walk more than 15 min when there actually were neighborhood schools and you went to the closest school to your home. There was also a full 1 hour for lunch then and kids walked home and back then as well. It was a rare student who took any bus, unless to a HS. ( I am talking about when I was in college: late 1960s /early 1970s) My husband went to the Buffalo Schools and he said her rarely had a day off and if he did, it did not matter much -- because he could have walked to school in under 5 minutes (He was out of HS in the mid 1960s).
Yes, I think kids get it too easy. Parents will take you about anywhere. However, given that the city grade schools have the choice system ( pick 3 / get 1) and HS is also somewhat like that -- as well as over 90 % of kids are supposed to ride a bus? With kids far away from a school, Buffalo will close schools. Remeber, sometimes even the buses won't run!
As to getting in early, school building times are actually set by engineers and principals. An engineer does not have to open a door for an early teacher either. Since there is usually only the office and cafeteria staff in before teaching and support staff, why would you expect to get to go 45 min. before school and have them let you in unsupervised? This is not the job of the cafeteria cooks or office clerks. I am sure that a principal can -- if they want to -- get an aide or two to come in early and pay them to watch kids in one place . That is what was done for the almost 30 years I taught.
Yes, it's cold. However, if you are grade 6 and up, you should try to make it every day -- simply because you need to learn. Littler kids? I can see parents keeping them home, especially in flu season or extreme cold ( my daughters did not get away with anything past grade 5; in our district, grade 6 was the start of junior high). When you get out of HS, no one is going to let you show up for work late just because it is cold.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
