by Dick Hall-Sizemore
What is it with school divisions? I am not talking about masks or anything about COVID, but about their panic at the mere mention of snow. This has been a longtime complaint of mine.
The Wednesday afternoon weather forecast for the Richmond area on Thursday called for temperatures in the high 30s to the low 40s, with rain in the morning gradually turning into snow in the afternoon with an accumulation of perhaps an inch.
SNOW??!!!
Gotta close the schools!
Here is the school schedule for Thursday:
- Closing two hours early–Chesterfield, Hanover, Dinwiddie, Henrico, and Richmond
- Closing three hours early–Hopewell
- Closing at 12:10–Caroline
- Staggered closing–New Kent, 10:55 for secondary; 12:10 for elementary (10:55? Why go to school at all?)
- Closed–Louisa
- Closed, but remote learning (spoilsports)–Goochland and Spotsylvania
Closing early means that the day counts and the system does not have to make it up. No matter that it creates many problems for parents and some for teachers. I can understand closing early if it starts snowing or sleeting after school starts and it is obvious that roads will be dangerous by the end of the normal school day. But planning ahead to close early when the snow is not forecast to start falling until the afternoon and the temperatures are above freezing?
