Arlington Public Schools’ leadership opted to take the day off last Thursday, shuttering classes because of a “winter weather advisory” issued the night before by the National Weather Service.
“Winter weather advisory” is just about the lowest of the rungs, in terms of suggesting there will be any impact of a pending storm. Basically it signals to everybody – except school officials – that life can go on and the repercussions won’t be problematic.
In this instance, the Arlington school system was shut down for what turned out to be some rain. While there may have been some flakes, there weren’t many.
Some of us have been around long enough to remember when Arlington school leaders were actually hard-nosed about having kids go to school in winter. Far more so than wimpy Fairfax (which actually managed to have kids learning last Thursday, albeit for just a few hours and in a “virtual” environment).
But Arlington’s stance changed, if memory serves, when then-Superintendent Patrick Murphy got raked over the coals for opening schools one day, only to see a storm get worse than predicted. Chaos ensued, and hell hath no fury like entitled Arlington parents when they have a grievance to nurse and social media to vent on.
Ever since that episode, Murphy and his successors on the job seemed to have approached things with the view that they’ll close at the drop of a hat, or in this case a raindrop. It’s rather a sad state of affairs, but then again, most things related to public education these days are rather sad, so why should this decision-making be any different?
Between the holidays, the snow days, the “rain day” of last Thursday, various teacher workdays and other odds and ends, January has been a washout for most Northern Virginia public-school students.
Bet the kids in China were in class, though…. just sayin’ …………..
PROOF THERE’S NO SCREW LOOSE IN MY LIFE: An intrepid plumber was over to Casa de Scotty (Shrilington estate) last Wednesday to solve a couple of problems, and in doing so, managed to dislodge this screw (see below) that apparently had been in place, unmolested, holding a tub accoutrement for decades, all the while gathering rust.
He was thrilled to no end that he found a way to get it out without resorting to far more invasive options. Me, too!
– Scott McCaffrey
