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BespinFatigues1230 t1_jaavjxv wrote

Why is closing schools because of 2” of snow even a conversation nowadays? I’m not trying to come off as a hard ass “back in my day” type but seriously?

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BsFan t1_jaax5zu wrote

Man I wish it was like was like this when I was a kid. Knowing that you didn't have to go to school the next day would be so much better than having to wake up and watch the news ticker.

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No-Garlic-2664 t1_jabbzzu wrote

yeah but then you wouldn't have the thrill of knowing you didn't do any of your assignments and risked it all on the snow day announcement coming through as you watched local tv in the morning

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carinislumpyhead97 t1_jacbxwq wrote

And all the neighborhood kids would be awake a watching the news to. This lead to an entire day of playing in the snow for me. Finding out the day before would lead to staying up late and sleeping in.

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SherbertEquivalent66 t1_jabt39x wrote

Yeah, but as a kid it was exciting waiting for the news to read off your town's name and kind of a rush when they did.

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BsFan t1_jacgn3j wrote

Not for me! Our town was notorious for never canceling school. The two towns that bordered my town were also alphabetically before and after my town. They would always close and it was always very disappointing when it would go from one and skip my town to the other.

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SideBarParty t1_jackk1k wrote

Guessing where you lived is like playing on a really good quiz show

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BsFan t1_jaco3ua wrote

Well thinking back to it it's not accurate at all haha. Every town that bordered my town would cancel school, but the town I was thinking of that would proceed Holliston did not boarder Holliston. Hopkinton would pop up and ruin my day though.

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BespinFatigues1230 t1_jaaxuiw wrote

For sure… you wouldn’t even have to wait for your school if the snowfall map was on screen if it was only 2” cuz you knew you had school then lol

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Academic_Guava_4190 t1_jab8x8g wrote

Never mind watching the news, how about turning on the radio, or listening for the fog horns? And I’m not even that old.

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GigiGretel t1_jaclldi wrote

When I was a kid, Portsmouth NH some sort of horn blew when school was canceled, and my grandfather would listen for it and then call my mom and my aunt, both of whom had kids in Portsmouth, to proclaim "no school" This was the 1970s

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BsFan t1_jab97vm wrote

I think our town fire department would blow a horn or something, I was pretty young then. Out HS radio station definitely put updates out

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gilgagorgon t1_jab1ggm wrote

It’s not the snow itself, it’s when it’s falling. The area around is closing because people drive and it’s supposed to be coming down from like 7-10am. BPS has at least some semblance of public transit to get people to school.

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jtet93 t1_jacib3p wrote

The vast majority of households have 2 working parents nowadays so it’s more challenging for most people to coordinate last-minute childcare. So when we have a storm like this where it could end up being worse than anticipated, it’s best to make the call early. I guess in this case they determined the worst case scenario storm would still be fine for getting kids to school.

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symonym7 t1_jac95pg wrote

Judging by the amount of traffic not on 93 this morning, a lot of grown-ass adults got a snow day.

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spedmunki t1_jacavlg wrote

Why deal with it/risk it when you can work from home?

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Ferk15 t1_jaconlm wrote

I work in Brookline. We have school today as well. I wanted to share my understanding of snow days after being in education for a decade. I will preface all this with the fact that people are making these decisions and they all have their own motives and goals.

  1. It's not always about the amount of snow. 2 inches is nothing over the whole day like today. 2 inches from 6 to 7am is a disaster in terms of plowing, sand/salting, and getting parents and busses to the school safely.

  2. The pandemic has also changed a lot. There are more cars on the road, more drivers being reckless, and more teachers calling out. All of that contributes to superintendents and school boards as much as the amount of snow.

  3. Looking more directly at Boston and the surrounding towns, how the students get to school also changes things. Most students at my school arrive by drop off or walking. In a rural town, it would be busses. In Boston, a lot of students take public transit to get to school so they will take in MBTA plans into account as well.

I hope this helps the understanding from a school point of view.

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