Salt? (Scranton, Pittston: rain, kids, cancellation)

[SteelCityRising]

Pittston Area has school today and tomorrow. It's really tough to try to "bank in" a proper number of snow days because Mother Nature can be so unpredictable. For example, North Pocono has already exhausted all of its built-in snow days whereas Scranton had too many planned. Certain schools close more frequently than others. North Pocono HAS to be one of the toughest school districts in which to be a school bus driver, township DPW worker, or superintendent because I know from experience that driving near Moosic Lakes, Jefferson Heights, and other very highly-elevated locations within the district is NOT a cake-walk with a small car during a snow storm! Pittston Area closes quite frequently because of both the mountainous terrain in the eastern parts of Pittston Twp. (rapidly-growing Suscon can rise up to about 2,000 feet above sea level), as well as the fact that hilly Pittston City does such an awful job with street clearing because the city's financial situation is even worse than Scranton's! Scranton is the only local school district that I know with 1.5-hour delays instead of 2-hour delays. That's always puzzled me.

What does everyone think of delaying classes due to wind chills? I personally think it's a colossal WASTE. I just returned home from hours of last-minute Christmas shopping, and I had a mere five-minute walk between my parking lot in Downtown Wilkes-Barre to Barnes & Noble. As I faced the wind coming up from the river along Market Street near the Sterling my face felt as if it was going to freeze in place, and the bank thermometer across the street read 12 degrees. Is delaying classes two hours so that kids will have to stand at the bus stop with wind chills of -10 instead of -15 really worth it?

If my children attended Scranton I would have much preferred them to have had school today because as someone else said due to the snow day on Friday a lot of the younger kids missed out on their Christmas parties with their friends and teachers. They probably weren't going to do anything on Friday anyways (why teach students new material that they're going to forget while being away for two weeks?) so what harm could have been done sending them in today? We have relatively brief summers around here. Why not let kids be kids and ENJOY IT?! I used to love riding my bike, running around, and doing all sorts of stuff during summer break, and my family would take an annual week-long vacation to either New England or Ocean City, MD. What are the kids going to do on their day off today? Sit on their dupas watching television or playing Rock Band on their PS3?

[weluvpa]

Scranton planned strike days not snow days....Ithink we only get one or two snow days a year but this year they had to worry about the strike first.

[CHS89]

The two week break was more likely planned long before thoughts of a strike, and was simply a result of the calendar. If Christmas and New Years fell on a Monday or Tuesday rather than on a Wednesday or Thursday, you're looking at a much shorter break with classes resuming probably January 2. Even next year, with Christmas and New Years on Fridays, you're probably looking at classes on the Monday and Tuesday, possibly the Wednesday, before Christmas.

[Mr Yuk]

Scranton school district scheduled these extra days in case of a strike:
Calendar, economy give city kids extra-long vacation | News | thetimes-tribune.com - The Times-Tribune (http://thetimes-tribune.com/articles/2008/12/19/news/sc_times_trib.20081219.a.pg3.tt19vacation_s1.21659 39_top7.txt - broken link)

[CHS89]

So they would have gotten the days off this week even if there had never been the threat of a strike. They were built into the schedule where they were when they were simply because of the way the holidays fell. The threat of a strike really didn't come into play here at all.

[Mr Yuk]

Originally Posted by CHS89

So they would have gotten the days off this week even if there had never been the threat of a strike. They were built into the schedule where they were when they were simply because of the way the holidays fell. The threat of a strike really didn't come into play here at all.

They knew the possibility of a strike when they made this calendar. It was known for a while that the contract was up and that the teacher's high health care costs would be an issue. From the article:

In Scranton, the Monday and Tuesday before Christmas had been designated as makeup days, if there had been snow days or if teachers had gone on strike before getting their contract.

With no days needed to be made up, that means Scranton students have the longest winter break in recent history.

[EnyaGirl]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

What does everyone think of delaying classes due to wind chills?

Ridiculous. Put on extra winter clothes, a good scarf, hat and gloves, and SUCK IT UP. When I first heard that they cancel or delay school around here because "it's too cold" I about fell off my chair. GMAB!!

[Mr Yuk]

Originally Posted by EnyaGirl

Ridiculous. Put on extra winter clothes, a good scarf, hat and gloves, and SUCK IT UP. When I first heard that they cancel or delay school around here because "it's too cold" I about fell off my chair. GMAB!!

I always find my self saying that as well...."we never had delays or cancellations due to cold.." To my kids, I probably sound like my grandparents when they would say they walked uphill to school (both ways) in a blizzard, barefoot....

[AmeriKenArtist]

I grew up in Riverside and walked across the Susquehanna River to Danville, to attend school. No school bus for us! They were for the kids that lived outside of town. The gale force winter wind that rushed upriver was enough to get us running the length of the bridge.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by EnyaGirl

GMAB!!

Give me a break? Wow! I'm learning these acronyms quickly!