Some residents in higher elevation areas that received snow Monday morning said Frederick County Public Schools should have delayed the start of the school day to allow time to clear the roads.
FCPS didn’t delay school because the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) didn’t forecast snow Monday morning, said Eric Louérs-Phillips, director of public affairs for FCPS.
The school system sent a notice to the Catoctin and Middletown feeder school communities Monday morning that stated, “Please expect bus delays this morning due to unexpected road conditions due to weather,” and encouraged people to monitor a bus delay board on the FCPS website.
Parents in Sabillasville and Foxville — north and east of Thurmont, respectively — said snow accumulation made roads unsafe and delayed school bus routes.
“There needs to be a policy change,” said Justin Willard, a Foxville resident who drove his son to Catoctin High School when there was no sign of his bus 15 minutes after it was supposed to arrive.
The bus ended up arriving 30 minutes late, Willard said.
When NOAA forecasts inclement weather, FCPS transportation staff members drive to different areas of the county around 3:30 or 4 a.m. to determine whether roads are safe to travel.
By 5 a.m., Superintendent Cheryl Dyson is expected to decide whether schools should open at normal times, have a delayed start or cancel classes for the day, said Paul Lebo, the chief operating officer for FCPS.
The school system is then expected to notify community members of a delay or cancellation by 5:30 a.m.
Based on the weather forecast, FCPS may also announce a delay or closure the day before, Louérs-Phillips said.
FCPS would’ve sent transportation staff members to report back the quality of the county’s roads if NOAA had predicted snow, Lebo said.
“It wasn’t that anyone was forgotten,” he said.
FCPS began receiving reports from school bus drivers about snow on county roads around 6:15 to 6:30 a.m., when drivers have their earliest pickups of the day, Lebo said.
Drivers who determined that a road was unsafe to drive on may have pulled over to wait for the road to be cleared, as they are trained to do, he said.
“Our drivers are to be commended for their response,” Lebo said. “They always err on the side of student safety.”
Willard said he recalled a time when FCPS would decide to delay or cancel schools in parts of the county but not others. If there was snow in the Catoctin Mountain region, but not other parts of the county, the school system would delay or cancel school for Catoctin-area schools, but make a different decision for schools elsewhere.
Chris Moreland, a Sabillasville resident, agreed. Moreland’s daughter normally drives herself to Catoctin High School, but he decided to give her a ride because the roads by their house were slick from the snow.
“I wish [FCPS] would go back like they used to and treat Catoctin and other areas differently,” he said. “We pretty much live in a different world than the rest of the county.”
Lebo said FCPS stopped deciding on delays and closures for specific areas several years ago because “nothing is confined to a single feeder system anymore.”
“We’ve got students who traverse the entire county” for programs like the Academy for the Fine Arts or the Navy Junior ROTC (NJROTC) Academy, which are both at Gov. Thomas Johnson High School, Lebo said.
When Dyson decides to delay or close schools, it applies to all FCPS schools. On Dec. 22, for instance, all FCPS schools were closed because of forecasts of snow and ice in Thurmont and Middletown, Lebo said. Roads in Frederick, meanwhile, were relatively clear.
While Moreland said decisions for higher-elevation schools like the Catoctin feeder system should be made independent of the rest of the school system, he, like the FCPS officials, didn’t expect snow Monday morning.
“I don’t put any blame on the school system,” Moreland said. “This one, I think, snuck up on everyone.”
(17) comments
Where I grew up in northern New York, we got 265 inches of snow every winter season. We never closed schools or delayed them. You were expected to get there if you could. They plowed the sidewalks with horses, until after WWII, then with four wheel drive jeeps. The horses did a better job, never got stuck, never spun wheels.
One day we got about five feet of snow, the nose plows in town could make one path, school was held that day until noon. Our school hours were 8 to 4, for high school, shorter for lower grades.
We all had ice skates, skis and rifle. Went cross country skiing all the time. Usually, by Christmas we could ski over the barb wire fences. We shoveled ponds after Thanksgiving for ice skating, about December 15th they flooded the tennis courts for skating and flooded them every day for better skating.
Thee good old days
Makes sense to adjust time for schools affected more by snow than others, And why close schools because a few cannot make it?
As always, borderline snow amounts or uneven amounts depending on elevation create a “no win” for FCPS. ULTIMATELY, parents can decide to keep their children home or make alternate arrangements. Blaming the school system doesn’t help
I'll agree, to a point, hay. However, this is about FCPS policy. Frederick County is a big county, the largest in the state in land mass and topography differences. A "one-size fits all" policy rarely fits anybody. FCPS needs to go back to their old policy, based on the needs of a particular geographic location.
If they delayed, parents would complain. If they don't delay, parents complain. You're never going to win. It's rather simple though. If you don't feel it is safe for your children to travel to school, then keep them home for the day. Problem solved. Instead of blaming someone else, take ownership of your situation.
Agree, 100%, well said.
[thumbup][thumbup][thumbup] Exactly, npr. If it snows in Emmitsburg, but nothing in Brunswick, should the entire FCPS system take a snow day? Makes no sense at all. Don't think it's safe to have your kids go to school, take a day off from work and stay home with them. Either that, or implement the online class option for snow days.
spot on!
[thumbup]
Agreed Greg and public. It has become pathetic.
When I was in college, the school bus company I worked for sent me out in a van to pick up disabled students, when there was a foot of snow on the roads. Snow tires but no extra weight for traction.
Even when they did plow the roads they left a couple inches of snow and mixed sand with it.
Granted, that was Madison, WI but FredCo is not in a southern state that never gets ice/snow. If we were on the gulf coast I could understand the wide-spread freak-outs over a dusting of snow, but that's not the case. Here the reaction is just absurd.
Yep…8” was the marker for a snow day. I recall skipping to go out hunting in about a foot In Wisconsin and ended up behind a school bus going through snow with chains on. Kids went.
Where I grew up, it took at least 8 inches of snow to delay or cancel school.
When I was young, I wanted three miles in the snow, backwards.
Only three miles?? Lucky you!😋
Up hill both ways!!
Lucky!!! We weren’t allowed to walk backwards. We had to face straight into the wind.
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