snow days
So, my new year's resolution has started out pretty crappy--that's why I don't make resolutions. But I'm sitting at work and it comes down the wire that school is closed today, so technically, my time is my own. I say "technically" because I don't really gain anything: I don't have any class meetings today, so I was just going to spend the day catching up and preparing for the coming days--which I still have to do, even though my suspicion is we won't be coming for class tomorrow, either.
Today is the third day school has been closed this calendar year. Not just canceled (no classes), but closed (staff stays home). At the beginning of the year we were closed for two days and on inclement weather schedule (2 hours late) for a third. First of all, classes hadn't started yet, so it wasn't concern for the safety of commuting students. Furthermore, weather.com says that the total precipitation over those three days was 0.06 in. Factor in January 1, which was closed for holiday anyway, and the sum rises to 0.17 in. Add in the entire week before the closure, and the total rises to just over an inch, 1.02 in. Two and a half days off for an inch of snow arriving over the course of a week. Seriously, it didn't even obscure the grass on our yard, and by the time school finally reopened, all of it had melted away.
Today's snowfall is already heavier than that, and the forecast says 3-5 inches, so I'm anticipating another snow day tomorrow. Factor in the fact that things shut down pretty early on Friday anyway (they don't even serve lunch at the cafeteria), and Monday is another off day (MLK Jr. Day, and this is a historically black college) and I'll put the chance of having class tomorrow in the single digits.
While there is some instant gratification in having a snow day, in the long run it's just a steaming sack of trouble. Snow days are truly lost days. We don't have make up days, so I have to cram 15 weeks of material into 14.5 weeks (or whatever). I have enough trouble staying on schedule the way it is.
Today is the third day school has been closed this calendar year. Not just canceled (no classes), but closed (staff stays home). At the beginning of the year we were closed for two days and on inclement weather schedule (2 hours late) for a third. First of all, classes hadn't started yet, so it wasn't concern for the safety of commuting students. Furthermore, weather.com says that the total precipitation over those three days was 0.06 in. Factor in January 1, which was closed for holiday anyway, and the sum rises to 0.17 in. Add in the entire week before the closure, and the total rises to just over an inch, 1.02 in. Two and a half days off for an inch of snow arriving over the course of a week. Seriously, it didn't even obscure the grass on our yard, and by the time school finally reopened, all of it had melted away.
Today's snowfall is already heavier than that, and the forecast says 3-5 inches, so I'm anticipating another snow day tomorrow. Factor in the fact that things shut down pretty early on Friday anyway (they don't even serve lunch at the cafeteria), and Monday is another off day (MLK Jr. Day, and this is a historically black college) and I'll put the chance of having class tomorrow in the single digits.
While there is some instant gratification in having a snow day, in the long run it's just a steaming sack of trouble. Snow days are truly lost days. We don't have make up days, so I have to cram 15 weeks of material into 14.5 weeks (or whatever). I have enough trouble staying on schedule the way it is.
