Should schools close when temperature is 0F or below (chores, playing, dad)
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The answer to this question really depends on where you live. Here in Delaware our average winter high temp is in the 40s. Kids standing out waiting for the school bus in 0 degree temps would be really unpleasant. I know folks in other areas are used to this.
Actually, I do. I volunteer at the local homeless shelter. Are you saying poor people don't have a car? Most here do... Or that poor people cant get the time off to wait with their kid at the bus stop? Aren't they more inconvenienced by having to take the entire day when the school closes?
Why should schools be closed for the minority that have an issue? They could just as easily be excused.
85% of Chicago public school students live in poverty. Very few of the parents in that situation have cars (they rely on public transportation to get around). Many of the students do not go to their neighborhood schools, but to schools further away - especially since the school board closed a lot of the schools in the poorer south side neighborhoods.
Many of these kids also do not have adequate winter jackets and boots and they may or may not have hats and mittens.
When my good friend worked in a Chicago elementary school, we often supplied hats and mittens to the kids (bought at garage and rummage sales). At 0 degrees, frost bite can happen quickly depending on the wind chill. Note that kids walking to school may have a longer walk than 10 or 15 minutes.
Also, kids often wear jeans which are made of cotton and if they get wet, the risk of hypothermia increases. That includes sweating, btw.
So, since the op was general, percentage of students likely to miss school is something to be considered.
Many kids could walk at zero degrees.
Yes and some Chicago schools did just that. (Last sentence). Again, I think it depends on the location. Minneapolis? No way, they'd be missing way too many days of school. Atlanta? Considering they haven't been below 0 in 30 years sure. It's not even likely to happen.
I'm a bit confused about problem with buses in cold weather. Don't you plug in your cars in the winter (those in areas that get cold winters)? We have sockets in our car park (and so I would assume its the same at bus depots) to plug in heater cables for half an hour or so before its time to start the car. We have a diesel van and have no trouble starting it in extremely cold temps.
I've never plugged my car in. What do you plug it into?
Not proper winter diesel. My OH drives a diesel van and we've never had problems no matter how cold its been, the winter diesel they sell here has to be good to at least -32C but there's versions that can withstand even colder temps.
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