Make suggestions not complaints about making up missed school

If just once, we’ve gone over this a zillion times: When it snows or sleets or when freezing rain falls from the Greg Fishel (WRAL weatherman) infested skies, when the temperature doesn’t climb high enough to melt said snow, sleet or freezing rain from the roadways, schools will be closed for more days than anyone expects and be open for more days of spring break than anyone would want. It’s a fact of life in North Carolina. If you ain’t from around here, get over your complaining. It happens!

The amount of precipitation that accumulates and stays because of lack of warm air is never expected. Actually, it’s so rare (snow, sleet, gloom of night) in these parts that keeping enough snow removal equipment and chemicals and sand on hand to allow for regular travel is out of the question. So when it snows, etc., schools are dismissed early and remain closed until it warms up to allow all the secondary roads to clear au naturel. (Bad graphic, huh?)

When the roads and highways are not completely passable for school buses, schools remain closed, and the next sound you hear is one of dismay from the immigrants from states north of here who just don’t get it. They wonder aloud why the schools are closed to begin with, and then they absolutely complain about the schools remaining closed for more days than seem necessary. And then they complain about possible scenarios, especially when that means taking spring break days away from the planned and paid-for family vacation.

First school lesson about weather in North Carolina: There will be days when scheduled school will be closed for cold weather issues and possibly hurricanes. And when the classes are called off and the school systems must make sure students are instructed for 185 days or 1,025 hours, there are only so many ways to do it. These include: changing teacher workdays to school days; canceling early release days so they become normal days; banking in the extra time that schools have over the 1,025 hours; extending the end of the school year; holding classes on Saturdays; and, cutting into spring break and other vacation days and holidays. My suggestion: Instead of complaining about the closed schools, have fun in the snow and ice covered roads with the kids and make constructive suggestions to your local Board of Education on how to abide by the attendance laws.

--------------------

Dictionary.com word of the day

brolly (noun) [brol-ee]: an umbrella (British informal)