Discussions

Best City in the World said "Yesterday our son was in gym when the fire alarm went off. He had to stand outside with shorts and a t-shirt on. So what uneducated administrator decided to have a fake fire alarm on one of the coldest days of the winter? He already hates school and Crocus Plains and this just adds to the fire. Seriouly, the school buses were not running yet you have the kids stand outside. Maybe the administrators have some type of education but street smarts ishould be a requirement. "

So it wasn't the cold that triggered a false alarm? It was for sure an administrator that triggered the alarm as a practice drill?  
 
It doesn't matter if it is a daycare, school, business. When an alarm is triggered you need to get out. Would it have been alright for him to exit the school if there were actual flames then?  
 
There is a lot of politics when it comes to closing schools. God I could just see the union going to town if every time it dipped below what -25 the school would be closed? (So kids don't get cold walking to school or having to stand outside in an emergency) They would want a clause for what people call "snow days". I am sure there is at least 2 weeks each winter where rural buses are not running and people seem to want the schools closed too. Teacher would want to get paid so now we i:nclude those days in their contract.  
 
Also there is the amount of school days. Per year. There is I think 194-196 teaching days per year, so many PD days, etc. Now if the schools shut down are parents and students willing to make up those extra days? Would people want to work a couple extra weeks a year into the summer to make up days?  
 
Lastly what is this also teaching our students? I told my daughter school was like a job. You get paid with an education. So every time it is cold out after finishing school is it alright to miss work now when it got to the school closure temp? We already condition our kids in a pathetic way by participation metals and all this let's baby our children cause we had it hard and I don't want them to go through what I had to attitudes.

Fishin Guy said "    Best City in the World said "Yesterday our son was in gym when the fire alarm went off. He had to stand outside with shorts and a t-shirt on. So what uneducated administrator decided to have a fake fire alarm on one of the coldest days of the winter? He already hates school and Crocus Plains and this just adds to the fire. Seriouly, the school buses were not running yet you have the kids stand outside. Maybe the administrators have some type of education but street smarts ishould be a requirement. " So it wasn't the cold that triggered a false alarm? It was for sure an administrator that triggered the alarm as a practice drill?     It doesn't matter if it is a daycare, school, business. When an alarm is triggered you need to get out. Would it have been alright for him to exit the school if there were actual flames then?     There is a lot of politics when it comes to closing schools. God I could just see the union going to town if every time it dipped below what -25 the school would be closed? (So kids don't get cold walking to school or having to stand outside in an emergency) They would want a clause for what people call "snow days". I am sure there is at least 2 weeks each winter where rural buses are not running and people seem to want the schools closed too. Teacher would want to get paid so now we i:nclude those days in their contract.     Also there is the amount of school days. Per year. There is I think 194-196 teaching days per year, so many PD days, etc. Now if the schools shut down are parents and students willing to make up those extra days? Would people want to work a couple extra weeks a year into the summer to make up days?     Lastly what is this also teaching our students? I told my daughter school was like a job. You get paid with an education. So every time it is cold out after finishing school is it alright to miss work now when it got to the school closure temp? We already condition our kids in a pathetic way by participation metals and all this let's baby our children cause we had it hard and I don't want them to go through what I had to attitudes. "

But what your forgetting is, everytime the out of town buses dont run for BSD but school is still open, they aren't teaching them anything new. So we are sometimes risking staff and student safety to go sit and watch movies at school. They don't teach new material on those days because out of town students are not there. So closing them wouldn't make much difference in the long run, in regards to what they are being taught.  
And the reason my daughter was at school yesterday ( cause if it was my choice I would've kept her home), was because she has such a drive to succeed that she doesn't want to miss any days. She wants a perfect attendance when she can. We had to force her to stay home sick one day in the last 3 years. So she went, and didn't learn anything new, and had the chills all day/night (came home warmed up magic heat bags and crawled under the covers for an hour, then had a hot bath for roughly 45 mins, then an hour after that had a hot shower to fight her chills, then went to bed) woke up at 6:30 am and vowed she'd do it all over again today. So no she's not just being handed a participation medal... she earning one!  
They are already not learning anything in those days, and don't make them back up in summer!

Buses outside city aren't running... all western mb school divisions are closed BUT Brandon . Why????  
I still stand by my original post Brandon should be closed too. Cars broken down little ones walking to catch a bus is plain dangerous period.

Yes some classes are still learning on days even though the buses don't run. My daughter is 1 of 2 kids in a class of 20 that live out of town. Out of the 3 days of no buses running we kept her home Thursday only and that was just because the visibility was bad and our road had a big drift.  
 
We are close to the school catchment lines. It is a bit frustrating when the bus wasn't running for us yet the Rolling River School division buses were running not too far away.

When it comes to our children's welfare most of us are intelligent adults.  
 
What I mean, is that we are intelligent enough to make a choice as to whether or not we choose to send our children out in inclement weather. My ex and I never waited to hear if the school was closed or not, whether or not buses were running. We made our decision. If it was to not send our daughter to school we called and informed the school she would not be in. We knew she may miss lessons but that was our choosing. I should clarify that this was more so at the elementary level. When she got to junior high weather was not usually a factor. She enjoyed going to school to learn. She may not have been the most punctual in the AM but she made it to school. Whether it was cold or raining out. Today she is second year BU and still loves to learn.  
 
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. As parents you are responsible for your children's well being. Waiting to hear whether the BSD cancels classes or not should not factor in on your decision. Your child just needs to be aware that if they miss class they will have to make it up.  
 
This is my thoughts.  
 
As a side note, I seldom if at all remember not going to school in Elphinstone because of temperature. What kept our bus route from getting us to class was blown in roads. Now those were the days.

Not ALL divisions were closed. Beautiful Plains remained open..buses running and schools. Ridiculous at -44.

in Douglas, and always went to school when the buses didn't run and the school was open. Walked as well in -40 weather. It was extremely rare that I had a ride to school. Even taking a short cut, it still took 10-15 min to school. Rolling River School Division very rarely closed schools, even when all other got closed. Remember many mornings listening to the radio, big long list of closed schools, and RRSD buses not running and schools open. Then again RRSD ranges from Douglas in the south to Onanole in the north and a wide range of weather in between.  
 
Reading these threads make me wonder how any of our parents survived going to school in the winter? Or even 20 to 30 years ago? Complaining about a fire alarm going off in the city is nothing, try having it going off in a rural area or small community.

Busses were shut down because of two factors....Roads had not been cleared causing impassable areas that they have to travel on. This could lead to a stuck snow bound bus or one in the ditch on its side. Not an ideal situation given the extreme cold which was the other factors. I've never heard of Brandon schools being shut down in my 36 years here. I can just imagine the uproar that would cause lol.

From reading this I am guessing that a lot of kids in Brandon and especially at Crocus froze to death the other day.  
 
I would like to extend my condolences to everyone who had any sort of loss from sending their kids to school.  
 
Next time I would advise keeping them at home if you just want to bitch and complain about how others look after your kids.  
 
Simple solution, look after your own kids