think with your head, not with your wallet

Dear School District,

I'm disappointed in you.

When you decided NOT to cancel or delay school today (unlike the 30 districts around us), you must have forgotten that not all the staff members live in town. Some of us have to drive quite a ways across those icy roads and through that freezing rain to come to school.

But apparently you were motivated by money, and not safety.

And while I inched my way to school, driving white-knuckled through traffic jams, I wondered how many of my students who are bussed in from 30 to 40 minutes away were going to be waiting for me.

The answer? Not enough kids to warrant following my lesson plans. Forty percent of them stayed home! I'll be honest, it was tough to have a good attitude after that.

I was even more resentful of your greedy decision-making policies when one of my colleagues got into a car accident and won't be able to come back for a few weeks.

So, School District, the next time that you think it's "safe enough" for the kids to come to school, don't forget about the staff!

Signed,
A Special Ed. Teacher

8 comments:

Shell said...

Oh, that's awful! Our schools were canceled today. And already for tomorrow, too.

Stay safe!

Kelly said...

Oh my gosh!!! I can't believe they did that to you guys and someone got in an accident!

My district has a competition with neighboring district to see who can cancel less- or so it seems. We haven't had the snow yet but I'm sure we'll have school even when it does come.

Anonymous said...

Thank goodness you are okay! I hope your colleague will be, too. I SO don't miss those days. Your description of white knuckle driving reminded me of my god awful days of driving in snow. Yuck! I hope your weather gets better and your district opts for the snow day next time.

Anonymous said...

Too dumb of them! I wonder if they are exposing themselves to possible lawsuits by staff involved in car accidents!!! Sure relieved you're OK! Love you, Mom

Mama Pike said...

I hate that when the school's do that. From a parent's viewpoint it is unfair too. You could have been seriously hurt or worse.

This same attitude exists in other work environments. I have felt undue pressure to show up when the roads are dangerous.

I hope your Christmas with your parents went well.

elysabeth said...

Holy cow - it hadn't even started with any bad weather here (South Carolina) when they put an announcement out that the schools would be closed yesterday. They are closed today. The thing about our school calendar is that we do have built in bad weather days (we see very little snow but have had ice storms that have taken the whole area down for weeks power wise) so we already know when they get to make up for these missed days. I drove to the grocery store this morning for some milk for the kids and have a feeling that they will cancel school again tomorrow as the roads are only minimally clear and we had sleet on top of the snow plus the freezing air - not much but ice out there right now and no sun (actually looks like it is going to snow again here).

Thankfully you are okay and I hope your colleague does better and she better be well compensated by the school district for their mistake of not closing the schools.

I hope that enough staff do make a noise and not go to school when the roads are bad in their area so they will learn their lesson. Scary stuff - allowing staff to drive in from places where they know it is dangerous to get there - see you in the postings - Mrs. E :)

-----------
Elysabeth Eldering
Author of the Junior Geography Detective, 50-state, mystery, trivia series

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Ginger Snaps said...

That is absolutely ridiculous. Our district has been shut down for the last two days and probably tomorrow too. They don't mess around. We do live in the South though. They take even flurries to the extreme. =) I am so bored!! I am ready to go back to school!

Elissa Newton said...

Stay safe.
We had fires here is So Cal a few years ago and our school is up against foothills. I Was surprised by how many parents where upset about them closing the school for a couple days because of smoke and ash. Safety goes out the window when personal/professional gain is the only thing taken into account. Sad.

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