“Everyone has sick and annual leave that they can use….”

Not exactly, haha.  Many professionals only get 1 week of vacation a year and they sure as heck don’t want to burn it when it isn’t necessary.  Building 15 snow days into the school year is a mistake because it makes it too easy to cancel school during very borderline days like today and last Friday. 

The fact is the school system could do lots of things to mitigate less than perfect road conditions, such as putting chains on the buses for those narrow roads in western Loudoun.  Or they could declare liberal leave that the 2% of kids who live on roads that have not been plowed could use.  But that would put the inconvenience on the school system, so it’s just a lot easier to build in an excessive amount snow days.

@really:  “46620 East Frederick Drive, Sterling”  Too funny!  shows up to be arrested.  In all seriousness, please remember that it is about the safety of our kids.  If you all like the perks of teachers switch your career.  Otherwise stay in your cubicle and continue your work.  Everyone has sick and annual leave that they can use and you should enjoy time with your kids being home.  Go have fun in your life and stop bringing other people down with you!

Tough Guy: “I am a teacher ... I will be glad to meet with you and see if you are this tough in person with a 6

With all the back and forth about the teachers, the kids are being forgotten. The local govt’s and feds should have let employees go earlier. Who knows how many children where left home alone until midnight, when they normally are only alone for 1 hr or two? The local govts need take the lead, and are not. However, I commend Howard Hughes for letting people go home early enough to get home. The rest was a mess.

Its sad when an article meant to inform people that school would be closed friday turns into an argument about the extra benefits of being a teacher. If you are a complainer that posted about teachers missing another day of work I think you are truly missing the bigger picture. Its not about Hatrick, teachers, and all other LCPS employees wanting a “free” day. Its about safety. I would love to see how many of you sitting at home
a) shoveled your sidewalk so it was passable for students and parents to walk to school
b) shoveled/cleared out the bus stop area for your neighborhood kids
c) helped the contactors clear sidewalks and parking lots of the 100+ buildings needing to be opened
d) wouldn’t sue LCPS because you live in the western part of the county and your child’s bus slid of the already narrow two lane road it travels to take your son/daughter to school

I am a teacher myself and trust me snow days are not always a walk in the park. We now have to contend with fitting in 3 lost days of instruction. I have an SOL to give in 26 days and thats without anymore snow days. If you think the job is so easy and full of benefits then why dont you jump ship at your corporate job and become a teacher?

Carl…the fact IS that teachers are not salaried employees. They sign annual contracts for a specific number of days. As I indicated, this contract is usually for about 10 days beyond the student school year of 180 to 183 days. These additional days are designated for various staff development purposes and are fulfilled at various times throughout the year. I will admit that Loudoun Co. “games” the system by claiming that because they have extra time during each school day that students do not have to make all snow days up. Not true in Fairfax or many other jurisdictions where students have to come in on unscheduled days to make up missed days.

Glen - You are the one who could use a fact check.  Teachers don’t get paid for snow days?  What kind of nonsense is that?

Hey Anna - I’m well aware there was a snow day last week and I agree with that decision because the roads were an ice skating rink that morning, unlike the clear roads on Friday.  It was no big deal because they made it up with the movable teacher work day.  I was talking about a scenario where they might miss more than one day during exam week.

LOL Anna…those who choose to operate without facts are doomed to frustration and anger.

Hey Carl-get your facts straight! They already had a snow day in the middle of exams-last week and LCPS moved the teacher workday to make them up. And by the way….did you shovel the bus stop in your neighborhood?

If this snow storm had of occurred last week during exams - on the same day, at the same time - I would have wagered a paycheck schools would have been open on Friday!  Why?  It would have been too much of an inconvenience for LCPS to make up the exams.  But it happened this week; at the beginning of another grading period; late in the season with only 3 of 15 snow days used up; so might as well just take the day off and make it a 5-day weekend!

Ryan-Ashburn: It’s all part of the wussification of our youth.  Avoid any risk - even if odds are infinitesimal - at all times is the message.

Erv,
It sounds as if you are a resource teacher in a secondary school. I too am a resource teacher but at the elementary level. I get what you are saying, b/c there is never, never enough time to meet with our colleagues, although I am fortunate enough to work with 4 teachers who do stay past 4, 5 and even later most days during the week. However, I have been in touch with them throughout the last 3 days…trading plans for 5 different subjects (which had to be completely revamped due to lost instruction), getting input for IEPs and progress reports, giving input for report cards etc… I also been emailing back and forth with my AP for SOL planning we were to do this week. I had 3 phone conferences with parents and numerous email exchanges. Thanks to technology, I am able to access most of my paper work from home. At times it’s been frustrating because I needed something at school but the thought of working in a freezing building is deterring. I have left school many evenings at 7 PM simply b/c I was freezing. Many people who do not support teachers and/or believe our job is easy believe most of us slack off on snow days and it’s near impossible to change that mentality, but like my husband (not a teacher) who was allowed to work from home 2 days last week, we made good use of technology and continued to do our jobs responsibly and professionally. PS-It’s Saturday and I’m still working!

One of the simple joys kids have is a snow day.  All you small-minded whiners who feel the need to turn this into an attack on teachers really need to get a life.  How about you all go outside with your kids, take a ride on a sled with them, throw snowballs with them…maybe you’ll learn to relax a bit and hate a little less.

If you’re so envious, become a teacher so you can get the “sweet” deal they get.

Here is at least part of the reason teachers do not report to school on “snow days”...they do not get paid for these days. Their contract is for a specific number of working days, usually about 190. These days are already in the calendar and must be made up if missed. To think that “collaborative” meetings that are unscheduled would be productive is misguided.

Missing school because of inclement weather is becoming the norm across the country. I grew up in MIchigan and we went to school with the roads snow covered.  We had recess and played in the snow. I spoke to my family back in MI and they have definitely lowered their threshold for inclement weather.  They have missed quite a few days this year and the conditions wouldn’t have kept us out of school when I attended. It’s our litigious society based on safety of all individuals. I get it, but we will are creating a society of overly cautious individuals. Thoughts?

I have no hate for teachers.  I was just wondering when 12 month employees, who also have to work in those cold, non-plowed buildings, why can’t teachers?  They keep the heat on at the non-school buildings, I’m sure if the schools knew that teachers were coming in, they might leave the lights and heat on for them to work.

WesternLoudoun, I’m sorry I’m not making myself as clear as I would like. I’m talking about the advantages of an environment in which workers regularly and constantly interact with each other, not just at widely-spaced, scheduled-weeks-and-months-ahead-of-time planning meetings.

This would not result in “random” meetings during snow days like today, but in a vibrant, energetic culture in which professionals observe and coach each other, welcome and solicit feedback on their ideas and performances, routinely seek each other out for help with the students they share, and administrators and department heads regularly spend significant time in classrooms. At least that would be the goal.

If you work in a reasonably successful, typical, private sector, professional, environment, just consider how you get your job done. You go from office to office, phone call to phone call, meeting to meeting, sharing ideas, learning from your coworkers (and they from you), obtaining goals and coaching from your boss daily, and getting feedback on your performance from everyone with whom you interact. You don’t work alone in your office, with your door closed, rarely communicating with your manager or your colleagues. I’m just curious why none of these practices which most businesses embrace to engender organizational goal setting and measurement, coordinated processes, and individual professional development, are not more present in our schools. I can’t help but think students and teachers alike would be the better for it.

If these behaviors were truly valued by LCPS and the teachers—and frustrated on regular workdays due to physical and schedule barriers—then we would expect the schools and staff would jump at the chance to spend a full day doing nothing but.

I went in today with hopes of seeing a half-dozen teachers with whom I share five students so we could come up with new plans for the challenges we face before the new semester begins. I have been unable to connect face-to-face with them in the past week because of classroom responsibilities, and none of them arrive much before the start of school and they leave within 15-20 minutes of the close of the day. Needless to say I saw not a one today.

I did end up staying and working alone in my classroom, with the door closed, not seeing my manager—and shivering half-to-death as the county recouped a small portion of the $1.8 million spent on wages through turning the heat down. And fortunately the parking lot was already plowed by the time I arrived late at 8:30, so I had someplace to park.

WesternLoudoun, I have no hate for teachers; au contraire, I have believed since high school that teaching is the second most important responsibility in the world. I do have “hate,” however, for the system that makes so many of the talented educators leave the profession in droves, retains the ones who end up being unproductively over-sensitive to criticism and resistant to goals and assessment.

Good point, Erv.  Why wouldn’t ALL LCPS employees be required to report to work when the admin building is open?  Teachers say they always have lots of work outside the classroom, so why not turn a snow day into an extra teacher work day?

Erv…Staff working together to improve the functioning of our schools is a great idea!  Did you know that every school has a School Improvement Plan and staff gets together (after school) monthly to work on this plan?  I believe that this type of scheduled meeting with an agenda and specific goals is probably much more effective than trying to pull a random meeting together on a “snow” day that may or may not happen.  Teachers and other staff do have meeting and planning days throughout the year, but they are scheduled in advance.

Also, did you realize that building temps are greatly lowered on “snow” days and that parking lots and sidewalks are cleared on these days?

Why all of the hate for teachers?

teacher, I am not necessarily saying teachers don’t work on snow days; what I am saying is that public schools don’t - through their actions—appear to place much value on team work, creating a work environment focused only on individual, poorly coordinated effort. The only reason schools are closed today is because of concerns for student safety. It wouldn’t take much foresight to make plans to leverage days like these for staff to meet and work together, something that is difficult to do given school building and schedule designs.

It is clear that not much in the way of professional, adult-to-adult interaction takes place in our public schools since schools don’t automatically expect it and staff don’t lament its lack when these opportunities arise.

Consequently, it appears that public schools believe successful learning achievement can be attained by thousands of independent contractors, working in isolation from each other in the worlds largest office cubicles. Little or no common planning, little or no idea cross-fertilization, little or no effective vertical and lateral communication on goal-setting and self-assessment. Little or no effective coaching for professional development.

In today’s budget conscious environment, today’s snow day is awfully expensive, in dollars and opportunity cost.

Not to mention that quarter-end grade confirmation forms should be waiting in teachers’ mailboxes.

I think you mean: “Why don

good question…why don’t the teachers work on snow days?  12 month employees have to.  Teachers are always complaining about not having time to meet each other and get things done, wouldn’t this be the perfect time?

Anyone concerned about the costs in dollars and learning represented by today’s closing must be careful not to over simplify the causes (and assignment of blame). Today’s school closing perhaps clarifies and exemplifies the basic, significant difference between public education culture and most of the rest of the world. Teachers, guidance counselors, and their coworkers do not need to come into work if there are no students here. The roads are not only beautifully clear, they are almost devoid of traffic. So why does the school board and LCPS management not see this as an opportunity for employees to meet and accomplish all those “collaborative” and other tasks they complain they never have time for?

It’s safe to assume that today many of Loudoun’s residents are at their places of work, interacting with customers and coworkers, doing their jobs despite any impediments the recent weather events may present. Even if they work out of a home office, they’re already on the phone, on a blackberry, and on email, working with colleagues to get the job done. I, however, am in a dark building which has only five non-custodial employees in it, out of over 150!

Why is it that on a day on which there are no physical impediments to being at work over 60 buildings are virtually empty? It is because Loudoun County Public Schools sees no reasons for 90% of its staff

Blame it on the teachers.

With talk of snow coming next week, these kids might not get back to school until March.

Why does it snow almost every day in Vermont and schools are in session. But a few inches around here and school close for a week?  Gezzz…

@ McIntosh

Yes I know that it has become a national past time.  However since this is the LOUDOUN times mirror that we are reading I only referred to Loudoun residents…...silly me.  Having watched the growth in Loudoun over the last 30 years it is the city people that have moved here that do all the pissing and moaning.

Hey, Tired of cry babies,
Hate to break it to you but the whining about everything has become the national pastime, not just Loudoun County.  The “sky is falling” mentality (global warming, second-hand smoke, junk food, whatever) combined with the threat of lawsuits has turned the county into a bunch of wimps!

I live in Oakgrove, and Oakgrove Road is plowed, but Trefoil is not. The school bus picks up kids on Oakgrove, turns onto Trefoil, turns again onto Rock Hill, then onto 606.

Trefoil does NOT offer safe passage for a bus at this time. The schools made the correct decision.

I want to apologize for my initial post.  I was stressed out with all the snow and commuting and venting.  My apologies again - I just don’t think things through sometimes when I am upset.

I agree with some of the others.  Is it such a traumatic experience for you new people of Loudoun County to have to spend time with your children?  If you feel the public schools/teachers here are so terrible then put your children in a private school.  There are plenty of private schools here in LC.  OH wait a minute they have been closed because of the weather as well.  MY MY MY guess you better move back to the warmer clients that you came from.  Please please please move back the people that are from Loudoun County are really tired of hearing you people p*ss and whine about everything.  Funny thing is it’s because of you people that the county is like this.

Ummm….I’m not a teacher and I’m working today at LCPS…so not everyone gets extra vacation days.

Jana, you’re welcome. I’ve got some really happy kids - they just got a mid-winter break.

No snarking on the teachers for me - these snow days are built into the schedule already. I’m just envious of the kids. I had to forfeit a vacation day to stay home yesterday.

To “Congratulations on Your Raise”: you are just an idiot. Why on earth would the first thing you think of when you read this article about snow days be “whiny teachers, look at all your free vacation days”. Really? Are you that annoyed that teachers got off work? First of all, lots of people around the metro area did work from home during these days, as did teachers since report cards are getting ready to come out. I guarantee you teachers worked from home during these days off. Most class sizes at most schools are at maximum capacity this year, so more than ever, the teachers are stretched to their limits. Secondly, there are many days (I believe it is 10) built into the calendar for snow days in Loudoun County. That is why the LCPS school year is never extended at the end of the year because the days are already accounted for. And if the snow days aren’t used up, the kids and teachers still have to go to school through the end of the scheduled year; it’s not like they school year is shortened. So many years students go to school and teachers work more days than required. And no, I am not a teacher.

Quit your complaining and shovel your sidewalk.  If you don’t have one, shovel the corner where the bus stop is.  90% of posters are complainers.

For ALL of you complaining about how many days teachers get off.  Make an occupational change… if they have it so easy give it a try.

4+2=6: I changed the story.  Sorry, I was unaware that students had been off Tuesday when I posted it last night.

Wow seriously people there are more then just the main streets of the bigger towns that the buses have to travel over.  Do any of you that migrated to Ashburn or Leesburg or Sterling in the past 10 years realize the back roads that Loudoun County still has?  Suck it up you are going to actually stay home with your kids for another day.  Do what you normally do and put them in front of something electronic and hopefully they will leave you alone.

I really wish some of you people would have more respect for your teachers. You make me sick, but that’s life in Northern VA, I guess! It’s nice to see how supportive you are!

When I was a kid over here in Ireland, the schools were never closed when it snowed and we used to walk to school without any fuss, had snowball fights on the way and made ourselves ice slides in the playground to see who could skate the furthest without going A over T. And if you did and hurt yourself, you got up and acted big and strong in front of your mates. I imagine that’s what you all used to do over there too. But then your mummies and daddies hit on the brilliant idea that “hey, we could get money out of this sort of thing” by suing the ass of anybody and everybody you could find for the slightest thing. Then we picked up on the idea and that’s why it’s called the American System and now we close our schools too in case mummy and daddy try to make money out of little Jimmy’s desire to introduce a little excitement into his day, cos all he gets when he gets home from school is shoved in front of the TV with his Playstation to keep him quiet. So, don’t blame the teachers on this, blame your parents and yourselves for being a load of money grabbing pussies who want everything bubble wrapped and cotton wooled.

Anyone who read the multiple accounts of rte 7 being closed west of Leesburg, as well as the Sheriff’s alert today to saty off the roads so they can tow abandoned cars BEFORE they could plow, knows that it isn’t a simple matter of plowing or shovelling.

This is one school system, and while it may look like walkable schools in the suburbs could be open, other schools serve areas with unpaved roads, and drifting, and trees down, and…

When I first moved here, we had a week off then too, with no snow on the ground in most of the suburbs after a day or so, and 20 foot drifts in some areas near Round Hill.

It IS about safety, and it’s more than a bit of shovelling.

School was closed on Tuesday for a moveable teacher work day. (That’s one.) Wednesday through Friday, closed for inclement weather. (There’s three.) Saturday and Sunday. (There’s two more.)

I count 6 student days off, not 5.

What a joke.  The roads have been plowed and treated in the past 24hrs and are completely passable.  Also, it’s not like there’s 2 feet of snow on the ground and there’s no place for the children to stand at or walk to the bus stop.  The children in my neighborhood are having no trouble getting to the sledding hills.   

Enjoy your 5-day weekend, school employees.  Must be nice not to have to work during inclement weather.

Teachers pet.  Master of the English language on blogs, how would you phrase that statement? 
I’m no teacher and definitely no English major, but other than missing the word are.  as in:

@congrats on Your raise
The school day has an extra 17 minutes built in each day; therefore, 17 min multiplied by 180 days equals over two weeks of extra work without pay. I am a teacher, you insulted me, please leave your name and address and I will be glad to meet with you and see if you are this tough in person with a 6’3 275lb black man in your face.

I copied this from the below post
“By the way, Loudoun teachers work many extra days than required by the state” 

Please tell me this improperly worded statement was not written by a teacher.

This has nothing to do with teachers and pay.  It is about the safety of the kids.  If people would have shoveled the sidewalks in front of their houses, as required by law, and homeowners associations would’ve taken care of various bus stops, the kids would be in school, and teachers would be at work tomorrow. 
You knew growing up there were snow days, you should have gone into education, and you wouldn’t have been in your car all evening yesterday, and would have been home today.  It is a small benefit for a ridiculously low career paycheck.
By the way, Loudoun teachers work many extra days than required by the state. 
What about the low pay in years when we get no snow?  It all averages out.

Wow I have really been mislead all these years.  I thought it was the Loudoun County Pupil/School Transportation Dept and Edgar Hatrick that determined if schools were closed. Silly me all along it has been the teachers!!!!!!  WHO KNEW????  Really take this up with Edgar Hatrick and the transportation dept.

Congratulations to LCPS school teachers for your effective 2% raise thanks to the four snow days this year and who knows how many more.  With about a 200 day work year for teachers, getting to stay home for four of them is working working less and getting the same amount of money, which comes out to about a 2% raise.  I wish I could have stayed home and avoided my nine hour commute yesterday, followed by my work day today.  I can’t believe I have to listen to whining about being underpaid.