The snow day game

Let me precede this post with two caveats: a) When I grew up in Buffalo, and then taught there in the 1990s, there was no such thing as a “two hour delay” – school was either open or closed. Maybe this has changed. b) I know little more about the backroom decision-making in snow days than what’s contained in this NC This Week article.

Yesterday, two schools – you know who you are – had two-hour delays to start the day, then dismissed students early, between noon and 1pm. Which means school buses rumbled off to pick up hundreds of kids, boilers fired to warm up the hallways, lights turned on, lunches were made…for about two hours of class time? Think a lot of learning got done in those two hours?

I know schools have to meet a certain number of school days by state law. And I know there are low-income children who rely on schools for free breakfasts and lunches. But at a time when we’re talking about debilitating budget cuts and fretting about property taxes, it seems kind of sad that thousands of dollars were burned to get kids to school for two hours of looking out the window and waiting for the (early) bell to ring.