My kids have been out of school for most of this week. If you have kids, you’re also probably cranky, stressed and less than thrilled with all of this white crap on the ground already (or else you are a freaking saint and I don’t want to know you. Or want some of your Valium. Or…)
While I’m pretty happy with the new automated calling system (and I’m not the only one, according to this WWeek article: Robocalls Some Portlanders Actually Like), there’s a flaw in the system.
We really shouldn’t be closing schools based on geography alone any more.
Part of my beef is a trivial one — I got a 5:40 am phone call on Tuesday telling me that my kids’ school was NOT closed that day. Lovely.
But the underlying reality here is this: Many Portland Public School students travel across the district to attend schools outside of their neighborhoods these days. (Note: I really don’t want to get into a debate about the district’s perceived liberal transfer policy, which is slated for public review beginning early next year. I’d rather talk about our current reality, thanks.)
My teenager was the first one to voice the blatant unfairness: “MooooOOM. Most high school students are traveling via MAX or the bus to get to school. A lot of kids at my school live on the west side, you know.”
My friends — who live on the outer west side yet travel cross-town to take their son to Creative Science School on the outer east side — just looked at their iced-over 45-degree driveway, shrugged their shoulders, and opted out.
And my daughter’s school had huge attendance gaps as well on the two days we were open this week (we also draw kids from across the district.)
I’m appreciative of the effort PPS takes to try and make sure that kids and parents are safe when the weather’s potentially challenging. Superintendent Carole Smith even sent an email this past Thursday to parents explaining the process PPS goes through before deciding to close schools.
But I’m also betting that when it comes time to make up those snow days, they won’t be giving the east side kids a two-day reprieve when they add those days back to the schedule.
It makes more sense to me to close all schools — even if it means you look like a fool when there’s nothing much on the ground around some schools.
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I couldn’t disagree more. Just because you have chosen not to use your neighborhood school why should everyone else suffer? Our school on the Eastside did not need to be closed at all this week. Thursday was the only day that was even slightly dicey and that was one of the days they actually opened. Over 70% of kids walk/bike and nobody lives more than a mile away. You decided to ship your kids all over town so need to have a backup plan for homeschooling. I didn’t, so staring out at bare pavement is more than a bit frustrating.
My son goes to his neighborhood school, fyi. He’s the one who noted that a lot of the kids at his school (which also pulls heavily from the neighborhood) would not be able to get to school safely.
My daughter does not go to her neighborhood school – but I grew up in Michigan, so know how to drive in inclement weather (the vast majority of PDX residents clearly do NOT, in my opinion.)
The point I’m making here is that you really can’t close schools on a school-by-school basis, even if *you* may be looking at bare ground. We’ve got micro-climates all over PDX, and what’s safe in your backyard *isn’t* safe for the person trying to get down the hill (or up the hill) less than a mile away.
Finally, the question still stands — are they going to extend school in June on a school by school basis? Highly doubtful.
In retrospect, I would say that most schools could have safely been open for all or most of the week, if schools and parents were willing and prepared to take appropriate precautions. For instance, it would be much safer if parents would put kids on the school bus rather than driving them in. Or, if they would dress kids appropriately and have them walk. Or take Tri-met if neither of those options works.
But the reality is that not all of those things happen. So, school gets closed, or if it’s open, a lot of kids stay home (134 kids absent at my school on Tuesday; don’t know about Thursday).
@Kathleen McDade – You make the right thing to do sound
so simple. But. I will not leave my 14 year old 9th grader, no matter how warmly dressed he is,
on a dark street at a Tri-met stop at 7:00 am with cars skidding all over on the ice. It takes
him about an hour to get to or from school on tri-met in the best of weather. Which is why I still
drive him most mornings-12 minutes, on my way to work. And yes, he was absent the second
day school was open this week.
I do wish things were different, but many of us just manage as best we can.
Betsy, I completely agree with you. We just started my fiance’s daughter in school a couple of weeks ago, and have had to adjust to the random school closures that don’t seem to have any relevance to the conditions in the neighborhoods. We are over in Clackamas, and the days it seemed okay for the schools to open they were closed, and the day it snowed like crazy they decided last minute to open them. I wouldn’t send my kid out in the snow when people are sliding all over and going up on the sidewalks. We’ve seen multiple near-misses that have been really scary.
I think it is really up to parents to make the judgement call when they feel it is safe enough to send their kids off to school.
Kai,
Actually you are disagreeing with Betsy. She wants all the schools closed because those families that ship their kids all over town are finding it a bit tricky. I’m saying that if the neighborhood school can be open it should be. Those parents that can’t walk can use their own judgment about driving/bus etc.
Plus, why would any parent worry about whether “east side kids a two-day reprieve” when they add the days back in. The more days the better (it will still barely meet the minimum).
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