From District 150:
For the safety of our students, all district schools will be closed on Friday, February 4, 2011. All events and activities are cancelled for Friday. This closure will guarantee that school buses will be able to safely transport students on Monday. Please check the district website www.psd150.org for further information.
All 12 month employees are to report to work as scheduled on Friday. If 12 month employees have personal safety concerns due to weather or road conditions, please plan to use a vacation day.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Seriously??? Welcome to the midwest. i understand that Friday night basketball is still on.
“Crews have worked throughout the day to clear residential streets. They are also focusing on the alley’s, which are fifty percent complete. City streets are still snow packed and ice covered. Drivers are encouraged to drive with caution because roads are slippery. With the cold temperatures expected overnight, road salt is not effective so please drive carefully.”
I just spoke with one of my sisters, who teaches in the Chicago Public Schools. They are back in session tomorrow with no bus service until Monday. That is not an unreasonable solution. Kind of the best of both worlds. Maybe next time???
I dunno. With the snow pushed from the streets onto the sidewalks (upwards of four feet deep) there really isn’t any room for students to walk or to wait for busses except IN the streets. Given the number of people we now have in Peoria (from North Carolina and other warm-weather states) who aren’t used to driving in the snow . . . well . . . kids in the street and inexperienced drivers in the snow . . . not a good combination. I’m with the superintendent on this one. Good call!
Funny thing with this new administration is that in the past all 12 month employees were required to be at work on snow days or take a vacation day. Friday is the first time they have to show? WOW – how many other people in Peoria got paid to stay home Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday?
Can snow shoes be made from raccoon skins?
My dentist took three days off, too.
They only got Wednesdy off.
Of all the reasons to cancel school, snow piled on the sidewalks is the least compelling. That snow is going to be piled on the sidewalks next week, and the week after that, and the week after that because the City doesn’t clear sidewalks and has no ordinance requiring adjacent property owners to clear the sidewalks. Furthermore, there are lots of areas that don’t have sidewalks at all, so the point is moot. The kids are going to have to stand in the street at the bus stop regardless of when school starts up again, unless the district is planning to cancel classes until the snow melts.
Adkinsdutro : Racoon skins are for caps ala Daniel Boone! Perhaps racoon sinew could be used for the snow shoes? It would take a lot of racoons!
Seems like a moot point – until the first student is plowed over by a two ton SUV. Back in the day, our parents would bundle us up and we’d trudge through the snow. That’s not as feasible now for many students as it was for us back then – given the number of who students don’t have boots . . . gloves . . . etc. Probably the best solution is for 150 to say that school is open but if you feel your child will be put in harm’s way due to the snow, by all means keep him / her at home. Then, the district could put learning exercises on its web site for parents to do with students while they’re cooped up. The vast majority of parents would find a way to get their kids to school safely either by shoveling off a safe area at the bus stop or by taking the kids to school themselves. Open the schools and put the responsibility on us parents to get our kids there safely. (so – in a roundaboutkndofway I agree with you – it’s just that your harsh tone hurt my feelings. 🙂 )
Two raccoons per student times 1400 students. Maybe if we were to use the rats, mice, and bats that call our schools home we could get the job done. We’d probably end up with snow shoes that only work at night – but fly.
Didn’t mean for it to sound harsh. Sorry if I hurt your feelings.
The way I look at it, if Chicago Public Schools can be back in session tomorrow after the pounding they got, there’s no reason Peoria Public Schools can’t be back in session tomorrow.
Oh yeah. Back in my day we had neighborhood schools – none of us had to go too far to get to where we were going. Walking a few blocks through snow was no big deal. Further, the busses were on time back in the day. Now, they’re frequently late – and in some cases they don’t show at all – even in the best of weather. (Ask any parent.)
Just imagine four kids on the corner with only their heads sticking out of the snow waiting an hour and a half for their bus to show up. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!
I was kidding about you being harsh. :). I agree with you. The show must go on! But the administrators need to be smart about it. Yes, if Chigaco schools are in – we should be in. They got hit worse than we did. Plus, most parents have to work and will have to find a place for their kids to go anyway. One thing I am glad about is that the decision not to have school has been made in a timely manner and has been communicated effectively. We’ve received automated phone calls, emails, and the district’s site has been updated often. Kudos for that! Beats getting up at 5am and watching the scroll on News 25.
Now, we’ll have students dropping from heat stroke as we extend school into the middle of July.
Driving around today, I came across four accidents. The roads are still not in good shape, and the quality of District 150 bus drivers is marginal at best. Sorry to offend anyone, but that’s been my experience. Put together icy roads, reduced lanes, large buses, and the typical bus driver, and it is a recipe for disaster. There is no doubt the Superintendent knew she would take heat, but she chose to air on the side of safety. Personally, I would have just driven our kids to school, but not all parents have that option. It was a good decision.
FYI: Martha Kelly and Charlie Thomas are running for Teacher’s Union President and Vice President in the April election. These are two displaced teachers from Woodruff High School who stood at the podium at many board meetings asking the administration to “rethink” the closing of Woodruff. They fought the good fight, using data to drive their point. Hopefully, the D150 teachers will get out and vote for two people that will SUPPORT them, not the administration. Our current president has literally sold his soul to those on Wisconsin Ave. I especially love it when he stands at the microphone during board meetings, praising everything and everyone at the district office! Every time I hear a teacher tell me that Bobby said there is nothing he can do, I cringe. The entire executive board is “in bed” with the administration. Heck, our president, vice president AND our chief negotiator all hold office jobs at the district office. NOT ANY OF THEM ACTUALLY TEACH STUDENTS. Time to clean out all the cling-ons too. There are too many “union” people collecting OUR union dues in the form of an additional paycheck. Wake up D150 teachers, send Bobby and his ilk out of office and fill those positions with people that will actually WORK for their salaries and they my friends are Martha and Charlie.
Hopefully Charlie conducts himself better as a union rep than he did as a basketball coach.
I agree time for new union leadership. I also agree the leadership should be in the classroom.
Observer: Charlie Thomas has always shown a passion for what’s right. That is why he will be an outstanding vice president FOR the Teachers of D150. Martha Kelly will work hard for ALL as our union president.
“average teacher” they only got Wednesday off? BTW that is how you spell Wednesday…My question though is WHY should they get even a day off at taxpayer expense? Then on top of that question since “12 month employees” include the people who are PAID EXTRA to drive the trucks to plow the school grounds which WERE NOT plowed which was the reason given that D150 was closed yet another day!
It would have killed Harry Whitaker to close for one day, let alone four.
School in session but no bus service – the best of both worlds? Maybe if only 5% of your students take the bus – as is the case in Chicago.
http://www.cps.edu/News/Press_releases/Pages/02_03_2011_PR1.aspx
I’m not sure what percentage of D150 students take the bus, but I’m sure it’s much more than 5%. (with 14,000 students, 5% is 700. D150 operates 150 buses, which would be an average of less than 5 students per bus if there were only 5% of students taking the bus)
CJ said “if Chicago Public Schools can be back in session tomorrow after the pounding they got, there’s no reason Peoria Public Schools can’t be back in session tomorrow.”
The reason is simple – far more D150 students rely on busing than CPS students. (Incidentally, I’ve been in Chicago all week – so I really don’t know just how bad the Peoria roads are, but I bet District Watcher’s experience isn’t unique.)
Jon — It is not true that “far more D150 students rely on busing than CPS students.” From that same article you cited, “Approximately 5 percent of the [Chicago] District’s 410,000 students [emphasis added] are provided with bus transportation, about half of them special needs students.” What’s 5% of 410,000? 20,500. How many students total does D150 have? 14,000. And not all of them ride the bus. So actually, far more CPS students rely on busing than D150 students.
I appreciate that D150 is going to be criticized whether they cancel school or don’t cancel school. They’re always in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation. I also recognize that they have the best interests of the students in mind when they make these decisions.
Nevertheless, I think D150 is being a little too conservative on putting school back in session. How much better do they think these roads are going to be on Monday? Seriously. There’s only so much the street crews can do when there’s this much snow — you pretty quickly run out of places to put it. That means sidewalks are going to be covered and streets are going to be narrower and slicker than usual. The weather isn’t going to get any better or warmer over the weekend — in fact, the forecast calls for more snow on Sunday. So… where does that leave us? At some point the kids have to go back to school, even if conditions are not perfect.
I understand why they cancelled it on Friday, but I respectfully disagree with the decision.
I should have worded that statement better, but clearly I was talking about the PERCENTAGE of students who take the bus. In Chicago, it’s 5%. I bet the number in Peoria is at least 25%. In both cities, the buses aren’t running. Why is that? I mean, if there’s “only so much the street crews can do”, then is Chicago being too conservative by NOT running the buses on Friday, too? At least that decision affects a far smaller percentage of students in Chicago schools than it does in Peoria.
Yes, at some point the students will need to go back even if conditions aren’t perfect. And, yes, maybe it will snow again on Monday. However, I appreciate the conservatism shown by D150.
Since we’re comparing school districts as to the decision about closing schools on Friday, I see that Springfield’s public school district does not have school today either. I bet Springfield is more similar to Peoria than is Chicago, for these purposes. 🙂
(Yes, I realize there are many school districts that ARE open – but it doesn’t seem like D150’s decision is unique, either )
The 12-month employees were to report to school on Tuesday as well as today. Lots of places were closed on Wednesday. I think cracking on the administration is a bit unfair, Without Malice. It wasn’t but a few years ago when everyone else was back in session and 150 was still out due to road conditions in Peoria. You can’t put that one on the “new administration”.
I am sorry for my glaring error. The “a” key sometimes sticks on my laptop. However, with a name like without malice, you sure do demonstrate something close to it. Are you being ironical?
As a point of contrast…. Peoria Notre Dame didn’t have a physically present day of school, yesterday or the day before. With their 1:1 computer program, they now can have virtual classrooms. Class is now online.
average teacher – sorry, I was just razzing you being a teacher and all. Now enjoy yet another day off and try not to get too upset in June when you’ll be in classroom to make up these 4 days.
With regard to Springfield schools being closed…my daughter, who teaches at one of them, informed me that Springfield’s plowing job was not as great as Peoria’s. Most streets around the schools there are still unplowed as of yesterday.
But all urban school districts that got snowed in face the same dilemna: with so much snow, the sidewalks will be covered, so where can the students stand/walk to other than in the street, to their bus stop?
Regarding the union election: I have had Bobby, more than one time, not do anything for me and my colleagues as well as almost laugh at the thought he should do something. He is disrespectful and uncaring. He is not someone I voted for the first time around and certainly will not vote for again. Martha and Charlie are teachers who understand how to fight a good fight and understand what issues teachers deal with. Bobby is way too busy in his admin office and playing nice with Wisconsin Avenue to bother himself with my problems or those of my fellow teachers. Time for a Change is correct. It is most certainly that time.
To my knowledge I don’t know what Bobby has done for the union people. Why was nothing ever done about him being union president and in Administration? Even in emails he sends out he considers himself an administrator.
Absolutely spot on Teaching Rocks. Martha Kelly is a no nonsense person of exceptional character. She does not “play games” when it comes to following the negotiated contract and wont hesitate to fight for teachers’ rights……which is the job of the union president…..not cowtow to wisc. ave. politics….wake up D150 teachers….change is in the wind!
cttp5, if I am not mistaken, removing Bobby would not have solved any problems since the next in line would become president until election time. I believe the next in line, also, holds some sort of or “sort of” an administrative position. I could be wrong about that. I think Lathan very cleverly gave plum positions to those in union leadership positions. Of course, another clever move is to try to rush negotiations before leadership changes.
Certainly, I believe Martha Kelly would serve teachers well as union president or vice-president. I don’t know Charlie as well but, I believe, the two will work together to serve teachers and the children of District 150. Yes, I do believe that the contract does affect students as well as teachers. Class size has to be high on the list–the district is already violating the contract on that score–and class size does affect students.