Snow's not the issue, it's the ice sheets. It's been sleeting for 2 days.

Can't plow ice.

There's always going to be something to complain about in these situations.

Run the busses and one gets into an accident? "They should have never ran the busses and called off"

Have class but not run busses? "I don't have the means to drive my kids to school for X,Y,Z reason"

Cancel school? "I can't miss more work due to lack of childcare"

I'm not saying you're wrong in how you're feeling/experiencing the situation, But is there any "winning" in these scenarios?

Salt?

The purpose of cancelling class the night before, especially knowing that it’s ice, is to allow parents time to make plans.

Salt is expensive and not super effective on sheet ice.

That wasn't the case last week though when it snowed and schools called off before the first snowflake even fell. I think OP's point stands, but I think it's more on the schools than those plowing the roads. Schools are very quick to call off now, even at the rumor of snow. I think it's more because they're at the risk of someone getting hurt on the way to school and blaming them. Schools are scared to be criticized, or maybe even sued.

I understand the ice, but what about the slush snow/ice mixture can’t be removed….

I get the ice debate but I don’t think it’s been applicable here.

And yes two years ago when it was freezing rain and it was sheets of ice. But it was frozen when it landed. So shoving my driveway was far easier this go around.

Exactly, and back growing up we had to wait and watch the morning news to find out if they canceled or not lol

Those are my thoughts on it.

Standard ice melt only works down to the upper 20s. MODOT and the city can add additional chemicals if temps will be below that range, but it makes it a lot more expensive.

Ongoing weather the last two days hasn't helped either. You can melt the ice, but if it's just going to melt, get colder, and sleet again, there's no use. Need sun to help melt everything away.

Touché! Plus it’s way more fun for the kids if they KNOW it’s a snow day eve!

Why shouldn't schools prioritize safety in adverse conditions? OP talks about keeping school and work going to make a good example for the kids. That's BS. Schools and work should prioritize people's safety. We literally just spent years refocusing as a society for this.

Yes that was awesome knowing you could stay up late and binge VHS (DVD) movies.

I'm not saying they shouldn't, just that they should get the criticism when they call it off and the next morning the roads are clear vs blaming the road crews when they can't clear them fast enough.

The very best. But I was lucky enough to have a stay-at-home mom… so childcare wasn’t an issue.

Showing a good example for the kids about working class families? What good example? Risk your life for a job/school? This isn’t snow, it’s ice. You can’t just plow ice.

I get that it’s inconvenient. I’m losing my mind with my kid at home while I’m also trying to work. I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I’d rather be in the office so I could actually unwind on my breaks rather than having her right in my ear every time I get up to try to go to the freaking bathroom. But it’s also incredibly unsafe for a whole bunch of people to be driving in this and dangerous for kids like mine who ride their bike or walk to school with cars sliding on these back streets. I understand it’s even worse for those who can’t work from home, but I think a good lesson to teach your kid is that sometimes weather happens and we have to adjust to it and shouldn’t always be on the roads.

Funny how people live in Missouri where we get ice but don’t know that every year MoDOT says salt doesn’t work on ice and actually makes things worse bc it will melt during the day and refreeze overnight.

There are a lot more kids walking to school since they had to cut back bus routes due to a shortage of drivers. That goes for K-12. The kids missing a few days of school is well worth the safety of them walking or waiting for a bus. The bus routes are on more residential roads than main roads. For kids standing out waiting for a bus or walking there are too many risk factors to bring them back. Call school off for a few days, let the roads clear, and they can make it up at the end of the year when it's not as dangerous for the kids.

I am curious what job doesn’t give you time off.

It's not just expensive to buy and spread, but also on the damage it does to our cars. I would ban salt use in Springfield if I could.

The decision that the schools have to make is that if they don't get a certain percentage of attendance in a particular day they don't get credit for that day from their state and/or federal funding. Sure, schools don't want to be to blame if a bus goes off the road, but the main reason is funding.

I tried salting the patio yesterday so my old and sick dog can get in and out easier, and the salt has done jack shit on the ice (especially with it being so cold.)

How about multiple employers that only give two weeks off.

I44 and Hwy 13 not clear?

I’m confused, Is that not enough?

It's 100% applicable. Have you even been outside in the past 24 hours? You can slip and fall on the fucking grass right now because it's so icy.

4-6 days for snow this year, 1-3 sick days for children and then try to plan other contingencies. Yes it makes it tough.

It is tough I agree, I also have kids. but that is more than some people get. I try to always have two backup baby sitters in case i need one. Also any good company won’t count snow days against you.

I think a lot of the outdoor stored diesel busses have a difficult time starting when it's this cold as well.

That is far from enough. Laughable what we put up with in the US, especially here in the Midwest.

That’s what unions are for is it? I know other countries have it better, but we will never be like those countries. The US is just too big of a country with too many greedy rich people.

It's not great for the plants and waterways either.

I mean, I grew up in Montana, snow days weren’t a thing unless the power was out. Which happened exactly once between 5th and 12th grade; even then it was only an early release.

I really don’t think there is a plow issue here. I drive most of the day for work and I’ve been out all week. The roads are basically fine, can’t really plow ice, they salted the fuck out of everything.

I moved here in 2016 and the first thing I noticed was the weather hysteria. I had a buddy that’s a local call me once to warn me of a tornado 50 miles away. I mean, 50 miles away, nothing happened. But the dude was so worked up about it 🤷🏼‍♂️.

I think ultimately the school cancelations are weather hysteria and an lawsuit avoidance.

Edit: Montana didn’t really use salt, they has some kinda dirt sand mix. I guess I just don’t get the panic, it’s pretty okay out there. I literally only fishtailed once in the last two days and that was in a pile of slush at a yield sign.

Salt only works if you can pretreat the roads, but when it’s raining and it changes to freezing rain the salt just gets washed away. I do remember cinders being used when I was a kid, didn’t melt the ice but gave traction. But cinders are probably terrible for the environment

Oh shit, just read about cinders… it’s coal ash which contains a devil’s cocktail of heavy metals and carcinogens

Wtf do you mean by show a good example to kids of working class families? Like risking your life and risking paying the deductible on your insurance for unsafe road conditions?

Back in my day we got snow instead of ice, I think that has a lot to do with it.

Thanks a lot, climate change.

I’m happy school got canceled so I don’t have to go.

Yup. Watching all the other college campuses evaluate dangerous conditions correctly while MSU did not and had kids getting hurt was a prime example that safety should be everyone’s first priority, no matter how annoying.

I personally counted 6 plows down my home street while I worked from home yesterday, plowing and salting. The street remained covered with ice. Sorry kilo417 but the answer to AITA is maybe yes.

Or..hot take…teachers aren’t your fucking babysitters.

“Any good company won’t count snow days against you”

You must not work for a corporation.

There are a few childcare options available for school age children. I personally use the one through the Parkboard but the Y as well as the OC in Ozark have this service.

You mean like Truck Hero? The worlds biggest supplier of truck bed covers? Yea they forgive snow days.

I work for a healthcare company, a snow day is a snow day is a sick day. We don’t have “excused” snow days, so pardon my disbelief.

Yeah, I get that. the whole health care system is screwed here in the US.

Believe me, if I could talk about what I see daily…

My sister used to work for a hospital. She doesn’t have to work but chooses to do so but switched and does in home care and said it’s so much better.

Been a local my whole life and the word tornado puts me to sleep. Meanwhile, my fiancé, who is not a local, used to freak the F out during tornado season when she first moved here. She’s gotten a lot better about it since then.

I agree with the majority. Ice is different than snow. With that said, the first two times school was cancelled-it was just snowy and was melted or plowed by late morning. When I was growing up they had 2 hour morning delays for these type of situations. Now, with the ice the last 3 days, if you look at the parking lots and residential neighborhoods, they are bad! And that’s where the danger comes in because the buses are having to drive through neighborhoods to pick up kids. And yes, I’d much rather get a call the night before when you know the weather is not getting any better, than at 5 am.

Shhhhhhhh

they have to think about people who walk to school, side streets and sidewalks are fucked.

A point I haven't seen brought up in this thread yet is not only is it dangerous for buses, but also the teens driving themselves. Teenagers are one of (if not the most) likely group to get in a car accident and tend to have very little (if any) experience driving on ice. Best not to take a high risk group and make their risk even higher.

Damn. Y’all hate your kids, don’t you? Any time I get to spend with my 2 are times I cherish. Can’t imagine bitching that you’re missing work and getting to hang with your littles for a whole week. If your landlord isn’t understanding, that sucks for y’all.

I work in healthcare, too. My boss was cool with staying and working when her employees couldn’t make it in due to dangerous conditions.

That's the thing, though. Not everyone has the means to be able to skip work. Bully for you if you get to spend time with your kids but not everyone can afford to miss work.

You’re from Montana, not Missouri. That, by itself, is the difference. I’m from Illinois and grew up with snow keeping us locked in the house because it was up to the bottom of the windows. I can drive in snow, in ice, in tornadoes, in blizzards, in rain. It’s shitty and it’s scary. Missourians can’t drive when it’s 100 degrees and sunny out. Kids would literally die if these bus drivers were expected to drive on sheet ice in 9 degrees.

Nobody can afford to miss work these days, but damn…. Work is really ALL y’all care about? Money isn’t the only thing worth chasing.

That’s a lovely boss to have

Yeah but it is necessary to live, unfortunately. Especially if you have kids. You have to have the means to support them.

Meh. It’s what she gets paid the big bucks for.