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You cannot make a blanket statement and say, "All schools should close at 0 F or below." You really have to look at individual areas. People in the northern states are prepared for cold weather with proper jackets, boots, etc. People in the southern states are not. The policy around here is windchill must be -35 or -40 for school to be cancelled or late. That is windchill, not actual temp. The other morning it was close...probably around -33 windchill. Schools were in session.
Oh, and should add the policy on going out for recess is 0. Any combination of a 0 F temperature or wind chill of 0 F results in indoor recess. Any warmer than that, kids are outside.
So....I live in the city of Chicago. When we get a wind chill factor of -30 to -40 and you have to hike 1 mile to school on icy and snowy sidewalks that sometimes are plowed but many times not (it's up to the homeowner on that street) I actually appreciate that they are closing the schools. Many kids also takes the CTA ( buses and subways ) to and from school. In the end it's for the safety of those kids who don't have a short walk or parents who can give them a ride.
Besides,we close for wind chills not temperatures. Schools here are still open at 0 degrees.
I was ambivalent about this...we sent kids to school in NY in low temps and they all survived just fine. They knew how to keep track of their gloves and hats, and they would wear their snow boots every day and line them up in the hallway outside the classroom.
But my mom's next door neighbor in VA is a bus driver. He said that when the temps are that low, the likelihood of a school bus battery being dead are really high at these low temps. Some fleets have the ability to plug batteries in overnight, and some just don't have the equipment. Which leaves kids standing on bus stops for long periods of time....not good.
I'm not reading all 12 pgs of this thread. Should schools close when the temp gets below 0? Seriously? Live far enough north in the U.S.A.... and that would mean that the kids hardly went to school, most of the winter! Want the kids in school all summer? Hardly!
I swear we have become a nation of wussies. Toughen up for the christ sake!
Moved from NC to Iowa when my girls were in 1st and 3d grade. Our house was on corner of bus stop.
Vivid memory of it being well below 0, watching bus stop.
ALL and i say ALL the kids had their heavy coats piled on the ground, running around in tee shirts while waiting on the bus.
Yep, mom and dad made them leave the house dressed for the cold, but the kids did not have time for that mess.
Wasn't long before my daughters did the same. No how matter how dire are warnings were to them.
Since that revelation, I just laugh at these threads and or discussions. Not one kid died, froze, or had aliens exit their chests!
lln,,,
as kids we use to have to walk thru a cow pasture to elementary school,,,not only thru the cold and snow,,,but hope the angry bulls weren't around,,,,made it interesting
many days the wind chill factor would be -10 to -20 below
and after school we'd all be outside playing, sliding, making snow forts in the cold
this built character,,,,,,
schools close now even before a storm arrives,,,, this has happened for 15 yrs now ,
this never ever happened when I was a kid- sometimes the weather forecasts are wrong, and the kids get an easy day off... but it makes it tough for parents because they need to provide child-care, or stay home from work
different world years ago.... as kids on the weekend, after our chores, we had to be/play outside, (this was before global warming , so it was colder back then)
I remember it being cold,,,but not severely cold,,,we always had mittens and hats and we were always moving/playing
why leave it at severe cold,,,lets just close the schools whenever it is below freezing 32 degrees, all in the name of kid/school safety,,,,,,who is going to argue against kid safety??
most of the working class, if they don't go to work,,,they don't get paid,,,,,
if this was true for superintendents and the principals and the teachers,,,,,
we'd have a totally different attitude..
if I got my pay for calling days off- sure id be calling days off,,,make up days in june are a joke,,,,the learnin/classes are just waiting to be done with,,,,teachers have the whole summer off- they want to start their huge vacation
How ridiculous. But I guess it depends on where you live. Our kids go out to recess down to -20F. If it's colder then that, they have recess in the gym.
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