I expressed concern this morning that perhaps it would have been prudent to close schools at least one day this week, on account of the fact that there are little kids standing outside in this ridiculous cold waiting for the bus.
Got some interesting tweets back, so I thought I’d share.
First, I learned that Independent School District 622 (North Saint Paul, Maplewood, Oakdale) was the only ISD in the Twin Cities metro to close schools today. There are also a handful of private and charter schools closed and some extra activities have been canceled. If that’s all that’s closed today, on the coldest day of the week, it’s fair to say there have been next to no school closures due to the extremely cold temperatures.
Secondly, Kassie made some excellent points as to why it’s not actually prudent to close schools because of the cold.
closing school info is hard to get to non-English speakers. Kids will wait outside in cold for bus to never come. #
also, it is a real burden for working parents to find day care for small children on short notice. don’t want 5 year olds at home #
finally, school is warm, home isn’t always warm. And many kids get only meals of the day at school. MPLS never calls off school. #
Unsurprisingly, those reasons are all related to the disenfranchisement of poor and immigrant populations.
Care to disagree with Kassie?
25 Comments
Kassie’s points are right on, and are true for severe weather like big snow dumps too. Many kids, especially in the Mpls. and St. Paul public schools, do not have the family infrastructure at home to deal with unexpected changes. Kids wait for the bus, it never comes, go home to locked (or empty) houses. Kids don’t get enough food because family is counting on free breakfast and lunches at school. Schools don’t have accurate contact info for kids so parents do know what is up (due to multiple moves, no phone, etc.) For too many kids, school is the safer, more stable place to be.
Well now I’m just really sad about it. :(
Hastings closed too, as did Stillwater and Mahtomedi (maybe those last two are part of ISD 622?). I just know that because my sister’s a teacher down there and found out this morning as she was getting ready to leave.
And it isn’t just low income parents who have these problems. Single parents, parents with jobs that don’t allow them to just take a day off, parents with disabilities and parents with a spouse out of town all can have difficulties finding daycare on short notice, especially if they don’t have a good social network.
If parents think it is too cold, they can keep their kids at home. The schools can stay open for the rest of the kids.
And Northern Washington County schools are out today (Forrest Lake and there abouts)
It is not the schools’ responsibility to provide food and warm shelter for students just because their parents can not. Also, we’ve all heard the warnings about being outside for more than few minutes when the temperature is so cold, if you are not properly dressed for the weather. It can be assumed that if a child does not have heat or food at home, they may also not have proper winter clothing to protect them from these cold temperatures. When they stand outside and wait for their school bus, are they not in danger? This coming from a teacher, who loves her students dearly but does not feel responsible for prividing everything for everyone.
Schools are closed in our district (north metro). Kids are driving me batshit.
Okay, so my personal definition of “the metro” is a little tight.
Miranda- it is the schools’ responsibility to provide food and warm shleter to students. That’s why lunches are required to be provided and heat has to be on. And I’d rather see a child stand outside for 5 minutes possibly not properly dressed then go hungry for a day.
Wow, Kassie thinks she knows everything! Do you know what it’s like to be in a classroom with 20+ kids that CANNOT leave the room? We have been stuck in our classroom every day this week! With the cold temperatures, we can’t get outside to run or anything. As a teacher, we are working our butts off to keep these safe and warm, etc. but WE don’t deserve to have to leave the comfort of our own homes to come here and tear our hair out.
My gf teaches 1st grade. I do not purport to speak on her behalf.
I have heard stories about the effects of indoor recess on classroom management, especially for multiple days in a row, and I totally sympathize (because kids that age scare me) though I can’t empathize.
That said, you don’t close school when it rains three days in a row.
When it rains, though, a child (or anyone for that matter) isn’t at risk for being frost bitten on the way to and from school.
Growing up in northern MN, we had lots of “cold” days off. However, I lived in a very rural area, where buses could go miles between houses and not see any other vehicles. Back then (ahem, I’m dating myself) buses didn’t have phones and cell phones didn’t exist, so if a bus got stuck or broke down, it was literally life-threatening. I still see a lot of those northern districts closing for extreme cold, probably still for those reasons, even with better phone technology today. Twin Cities metro area? Not so much with that kind of danger. Much to my kids’ dismay.
Lucy, maybe you should rethink your profession. Schools in the metro need to be open, no matter what. Kids need school more than you need your sanity.
Kassie,
Educational research shows that children learn best when their basic needs are met- those being food, shelter, etc. Therefore, schools do provide those things on mandatory school days. However, that does not mean that schools should remain open, even in dangerously cold weather, so that they keep all the kids warm and fed. What are these kids doing in the summer, when they are home all day? Do they not eat then? Or how about the weekends? You spoke of family budgets, and that some families rely on free and reduced lunch. What do they do when their kids have to stay home because they are sick? Do the kids not eat on those days? Today was ONE day off. It’s not the end of the world for these kids- even those less fortaunate than others.
You do realize that there are kids whose parents plan food around school days and there are kids who eat very little food on weekends, right? And those kids are in summer programs, that’s where they get their meals in the summer.
And I’m not saying that it doesn’t suck to have to teach kids who haven’t been outside in 3 days, but I don’t have a lot of sympathy for teachers when this happens only once or twice a year. I think the answer is more teacher aids, not making kids stay home.
And I’m not making this up, ask MPLS school district, they will give the same answers as I did. I don’t know why there is so much hostility toward me.
Those are all really good points that I for one hadn’t thought of. I was hurting every time I had to pass a bus stop today and saw someone waiting for a bus – public bus. No matter the age of the person. It is awful out there. Seems to be making some people a little edgy, too.
I haven’t meant to be hostile, I’m just speaking from my own experience as a public school teacher. I think it comes down to personal responsibility- it is not the school or the governments’ job to take care of everybody’s problems. The more dependent people become on government/school programs, the worse off they are going to be. In the case of today, schools tried to do what was best for the majority of the community by keeping kids out of the cold this morning. We can’t just not call of school because some of the population isn’t able to afford to have the kids home for an extra day.
Thanks Snarky!
But…I’ll keep my job. I LOVE my children and do deal with the sanity. I have never taken it out on them…I just don’t appreciate when people who aren’t in the position that educators are in throw out all these other points that should NOT fall on the schools.
Don’t get me wrong, I would have enjoyed a nice snuggly day at home, but in the position I am employed, I wouldn’t have gotten paid to sit at home.
Kassie, I know I singled you out earlier and I didn’t mean to be snarly–your points are all valid in MANY schools. I am fortunate to work in an area where those points don’t necessarily pertain. Come 1:50 this afternoon when I wrote that, I was on my mini break for the day and would have loved to take a lap around the school–totally would have helped, too! LOL.
Miranda–I totally agree that the more people are dependent, the worse off they’ll be. I know people who can barely function without the aid of the county, etc. It’s sad.
I’m looking forward to my Friday at school!
Have a good night, Snarky!
@Lucy — When it rains, though, a child (or anyone for that matter) isn’t at risk for being frost bitten on the way to and from school. — Right, so my point was that even though they’re driving you just as nuts when it rains, you don’t have the option of school closing.
@Miranda – I think it comes down to personal responsibility- it is not the school or the governments’ job to take care of everybody’s problems. The more dependent people become on government/school programs, the worse off they are going to be. — Sounds like that’s coming from a place of privilege to me. It’s just not that simple. I”m sure folks would rather not be on assistance but expecting them to just try harder and it will be okay is not realistic.
Follow up item #1: Seems WCCO did a Good Question on how schools decide to close a couple weeks ago. Jason kindly followed up with Kassie’s points above.
Follow up item #2: Turns out my gf’s school district is closed tomorrow, but staff still has to report. The announcement said that gas froze in some of the buses and did indeed leave some kids stranded. The announcement also pointed out that it was because of the state-mandated biodiesel.
While a lot of good points were made, we need to remember that there is no one size fits all solution to this situation. Although Kassie made some excellent observations, there are some things to keep in mind:
1. regardless of whether the district has non-English speaking students and families, the decision must be made with respect to the safety and well-being of all students. Hence, districts should have plans in place so that ALL community members receive notification in the case of school closings or other emergency situations. This can include automated phone calls, web site postings, and news releases to radio and TV stations (including non-English speaking ones).
2. there is no question that it is a burden for parents/guardians to make arrangements on short notice; however, it is one of the responsibilities you have as a parent/guardian. For whatever reason, a school may have to close unexpectedly. Parents too must have plans for their children in these circumstances. Bloomington closed due to fuel issues which caused unreliable transportation. Other schools this year have had bomb threats, gas/chemical leaks, flooding, heating problems, etc. Schools do their best to fulfill their roles, but sometimes unexpected issues arise.
3. I understand and agree about schools meeting the basic needs for many students; however, let’s also consider the people who have to run these institutions. Is it safe for the custodians, teachers, cafeteria workers, secretaries, and other staff who need to get to work? Also, since many staffers don’t live in the district where they work, might they have issues too with transportation, child care, and the like?
BTW, having worked in Minneapolis, I know for a fact that they have closed school before as has St. Paul; however, they are less likely to do so.
Interestingly enough, while our “Metro area” hasn’t closed many of the schools, most of the state has including Rochester and Duluth. Also, Milwaukee and Madison closed their schools as well in WI. I’m sure these areas have the same dilemmas, but each one determined what was best for their students and communities.
It is my belief that our administrators have tried to do the same.
I’d have to agree with Experienced Tchr on this one. Although, Kassie has some good points they hinge dangerously close to equating closing a school for safety reasons with racism and classism; which I don’t think is the case.
Just wanted to add for posterity that our friendly neighborhood biodiesel
shillknowledgable guy, Bob Moffitt, has posted a couple items at Metblog on this exact topic.Did Bad Biodiesel Really Close Bloomington’s Schools?
Glenn Beck and other BioFools
Bob’s basically saying that, duh, of course the buses didn’t shut down just because of biodiesel, but the perpetuation of misinformation is rampant.
Hey, thanks for the shoutout, girl.
I’m also saying that Glenn Beck is a idiot, but that’s not news.
From yesterday’s Strib, the final word:
http://tinyurl.com/b35rjj