Does Patterson have a system?

[Ryan Salo]

It is currently 5 degrees and feels like -9 with windchill. Lakewood has school.

In the past he has cancelled school due to the cold. Does anyone know if he has a set system or does he simply wait for other school systems to cancel and then follows suit? Does he remember that every other school district buses?

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[Jeff Dreger]

For just cold weather and not cold + snow, I think he's closed when there's been a wind chill advisory/warning. Not entirely sure where that line is but it's colder than this.

[Jeff Dreger]

Just FYI - For the Cleveland area:

Wind Chill Advisories are posted for wind chills expected from -20F to -34F.

Wind Chill Warnings are posted for wind chills expected from -35F and colder.


A Wind Chill Advisory is issued when wind chill temperatures are potentially hazardous.

A Wind Chill Warning is issued when wind chill temperatures are life threatening.

However, temperature criteria for an advisory or warning can vary from state to state to reflect regional climate differences.

For example, weather forecasters in Grand Forks, N.D., issue a wind chill advisory when the wind chill is -25˚ F or lower for more than one hour, while a wind chill of +35˚ F for at least three hours will trigger a wind chill advisory in Miami.

[Ryan Salo]

Thanks Jeff, I couldn't remember how cold it was before, but I do know the surrounding schools closed as well, I would think we should occasionally close when others don't due to the lack of busing here, I guess I have become a wuss.

I know when I was a kid we walked to school in 4 feet of snow with -40 windchill uphill both ways in kindergarten and turned out fine, but things have changed.

[Jeff Dreger]

Not saying that I necessarily agree with his criteria if that's what it is. I just seem to recall having a -20 day called off but not the following -15 day or something like that.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Snowy Night by JOB

Ryan

I saw your post and put a call into the School Board. I have always found Jeff Patterson
a breath of fresh air in this overly inbred community. Anne, his secretary answered and
mentioned he was not in, but would tell the Superintendent I called.

Over the 30 minutes or so of conversation he said... "You know Jim it is not an exact science."
Which made me feel good, but also let me into to the fact the system was not a system.
"Many things go into closing a school, amount of snow, wind chill, dangerous conditions,
and they have to be looked at together an separately. It is never an easy decision.

I myself last year used to play the "If I was Mayor when would I salt game," and found out
that Mayor Summers was neither addicted to no unwilling to sale streets, when it made
sense, and I have to think the same is true on "Snow Days." After all we know how
accurate weather reports are.

He went on to explain that when he closes them he gets complaints, and when they stay
open he gets complaints, and that he can understand the issues, as there are child sitters
and arraignments that have to be made and he takes that timing element into effect to.

Superintendent Patterson has that easy going way about himself that relaxes you and
makes you want to lean into the conversation. So I dug deeper, "Car inside or outside?"
"Shovel walks or not? "Do you walk?" even "Did you grow up in a different growing
season?" to which Patterson said, "What are you talking about?"

He did say that if a parent calls the school with a "Reason for their child to stay home for
their own personal safety, it is a legitimate absence, and will be treated as one. So any
parent not wanting their child in what they see as extreme conditions, they can call it in."

As I hate to take so much of his time I said goodbye, and as he was saying his goodbyes
he apologized for taking so long in calling me back as he was not at work. Oh at it was
Asst Superintendent Roxann Ramsey that made the call today.

So I called the Asst Superintendent, who has young children herself and asked? She
replied that she had been out driving the streets and the streets seemed safe and cleared
and the conditions did not seem at the time to affect the safety of the children.

So there you have it.

.

[Danielle Masters]

Key was she was out driving this morning, not walking. I have no doubt children who have access to a vehicle were fine to go to school but this city repeatably plays up it's walkability and then fails to use walking when factoring in decisions. For cold days perhaps they should decided on a set temperature that is deemed too cold and go from there that way families will know whether or not there will be school. Right now it seems that there is no rhyme or reason to when the schools will close for weather.

[Ryan Salo]

Jim,

Thanks for digging in to this more. I am glad you spoke with both of them.

I also called the school board earlier and talked with Patterson's secretary. She brought up 2 additional points she said she thought went into the decision making process.

1. Some children will be better fed and kept warmer at school than if they stay home. That is a sad statement but I am sure is true on some situations.

2. What other superintendents decide. She said the superintendents do talk among themselves. I asked if, under Patterson, Lakewood had ever closed when those with buses didn't. She put me on hold and when she came back she said they think it did happen once in the past.

I can believe that the office gets complaints either way but I would assume a set guideline would help clear things up.

Also, if #1 above is a high percentage of students than we have even more challenges that need addressing...

[Stan Austin]

I can remember back in the day--- when certain individuals would call radio stations and in a muffled voice say "I'm the principal of Harding and school is closed today."

[Sandy Twardesky]

I just moved to the east side of town. Our kids are still at Horace Mann for the remainder of the year. But we are now living on clifton. And I feel so bad for the kids that walk through the mounds of snow that no one bother's to shovel each day. It's sad.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Ryan

Don't take my laid back conversation with both to take their is no plan.

Jeff mentioned the issues with schools systems in the past with buses. But did not
find that applicable here because the situations are different.

Driving around early in the AM making sure streets are passable and safe seems
like a pretty prudent way to do things.

We do live in Northern Ohio, and from what I remember kids don't feel snow until
they get home or are asked to shovel.

What do you suggest?

.

[Gary Rice]

I think I'll chime in here, from the perspective of a retired teacher.

Certain elements of our society have tried for centuries to objectively quantify virtually ALL decisions made in the schools. Whether with school closing decisions, standardized testing, discipline, or with teacher evaluations, there have always been those who hope to find a way to neatly quantify and categorize a school district's performance.

The thing is, when you are dealing with things like the weather, or for that matter, the human condition, objective quantification is not an easy thing to achieve. There has always been a very strong element of subjectivity/flexibility in education that drives some people to distraction, but that's just how it is.

Like the weather, circumstances involving children are often unpredictable, and sometimes require very human and subjective decision-making skills on the part of parents, educators, and the community as a whole.

Acting in the best interests of the child always comes first. Common sense is not a bad thing.

While we may not always agree with school decisions, if they reflect careful concern for the children, that's probably the best that we can hope for.

There are always guidelines, but there are sometimes exceptions to those guidelines as well.

Besides, WHEN I WAS A LAKEWOOD KID, WE......(smile)

Back to the banjo...

[Ryan Salo]

Does anyone else think we only have school today because of testing?