Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Weather issues

On the February "Start a new post" Anonymous wrote:



Happy February 10th, 2010. It looks like we will have more spare time on our hands to do some deep thinking. Many neighborhoods see little improvement despite efforts to clear streets. At this point it is hard to motivate the kids away from video games and texting to more productive educational activities. To be fair, many kids have worked hard helping dig out cars and driveways and at being good neighbors and they are whipped too. There will be games and events to reschedule once this is over. But, how do teachers make up for so much lost time when pacing rules the classroom and PSSA tests are coming soon?

14 comments:

Unknown said...

I saw in the PG that one of the local school districts was going to petition the state so they would not have to make up the lost time since it was declared a state of emergency. I know the IBDP kids have a difficult time getting in all of the hours required by the international standards; I doubt that they will be given a break. Snow days are fun until you start thinking about making up the lost time.

Questioner said...

Even so they are still fun!

parentone said...

Yes they are fun, but I have hit my limit!!

Making up days seems to be the only subject that stirs my senior out of her glazed-over fog.

The messages from the parenthotline have been very welcome.

Anonymous said...

ALL districts will likely petition the state DoE but the problem is that the DoE doesn't just blindly give in to requests for waivers. They want to hear about efforts to make up the days, not so much about the difficulties, as that is a given.
PPS and PFT don't want to cut into Spring break, because the PFT is sponsoring a vacation cruise. What a laugh.

anonymous too said...

PPS and PFT don't want to cut into Spring break, because the PFT is sponsoring a vacation cruise. What a laugh.

Yeah, I'm sure that's the sole reasoning. For instance, our family has friends we haven't seen in 14 years coming to visit for the first two days of that break. Will I work if I have to? Yep. Will my kids go to school? Most likely not -- if our friends have already paid for 4 airfares, then the other spouse will continue to take the days off then they'll develop an illness and stay home.

I feel bad for anyone who has put down deposits, made airplane reservations, scheduled doctor's visits or medical procedures, etc.

Part of this is the problem with having so many scheduled days off in the fall -- and so few in the winter/spring. If there were a President's Day or another day in May (as there used to be) that could be clawed back as well as adding two days at the end.

Anonymous said...

If you want a good laugh, go to the PPS home page and click on the link for "Educational resources and links." Click on any one of the links, math for example. Read the "disclaimer." Why put these on there if they have disclaimers? When you first see the link on the home page, it makes PPS look good. In reality it is just smoke and mirrors.

Anonymous said...

I'd say the PR machine at PPS is preparing everyone for these days to be made up. You know, just call your buddies at the PG and tell them that the Secretary of Ed--another guy who is a real winner--doesn't easily approve waiver requests based on weather.
Does anyone do any type of investigative journalism on their own anymore?

haveshovelwilltravel said...

We covered a lot of city ground today including passing several PPS buildings. Our schools seem prepared to open doors on Monday with the sidewalks clear of snow and ice around their perimeters. The ALERT NOW message from Dr. Lane did not prepare us for what we saw in the neighborhoods around the schools. Our school neighbors need help and in doing so as Dr. Lane suggested we can make the commute to school so much safer for the kids. If you ask any mailman they will tell you it isn't necessary to have a completely clear sidewalk for them. A center path is all that is needed to get to your mailbox and all the kids should need to be able to get to school. I am sure they all remember how to walk single file, right?

The district deserves a hat-tip on this one. No matter how you feel about decisions affecting your children, the cautious approach of a two-hour delay for the first day is absolutey the right call. Using the ALERT NOW system throughout the week-long hiatus was also very helpful. Looking on the bright-side, the district got to test contingency plans and procedures.

Parents need to be prepared to send the kids back to school with the right attitude, ready to work hard enough to make up lost time.

Questioner said...

Right on Have Shovel!

anothanon said...

This evening's weather may give us a chance to ponder on this: Should school district's consider year round school with a month-long break in the month of February?

PPSparent said...

Well, we've lived in Pittsburgh for 20 years. The only other time there could've or would've been a prolonged closure of the schools was in '93 and that was in March, not February.

So, I'd say no, that would be a bad idea!

Some sort of year round'ish schedule? Sure, bearing in mind that most of the schools aren't air-conditioned and it gets pretty darn hot on second and third floors in a lot of buildings. (And smelly too!)

Anonymous said...

Hey, as long as we don't have to pay teachers one cent more. We have a superintendent who'll see to that.

haveshovelwilltravel said...

KDKA's Marty Grffin did an hour today, Thursday, 2/25/10, on the request to waive some snow days using ACT 80. While I would prefer some days to be made up, some of the ideas were sooooo unrealistic I could not believe Marty was cheerleading the thoughts.

Unknown said...

I quit listening to Marty Griffin after he implied that I was a racist because I thought Schenley High School should be kept open and the student body together so I did not hear his arguments today. What were the unrealistic ideas?

I hope that at least a couple of the days can be waived and for the IBDP kids, the make-up needs to be before their exams in May. Tacking on days at the end of the year would be a waste of time for most seniors.