Towson High’s PTSA asks that schools be closed all week

Here’s a message the group re-posted (from Howard County educator Rus VanWestervelt) to its page:

An Open Appeal to Baltimore County Public Schools:

It’s time to do the right thing and close schools for the week, and for the following reasons:

1. STUDENT SAFETY: The safety of our students is our highest concern. Current conditions do not guarantee their safety (many are listed below); their lives are entrusted in your decision to open or close schools. By making any decision to open them this week, you are “hoping for the best” and taking great risks with our sons and daughters, nephews and nieces, grandsons and granddaughters.

2. BUS STOPS: Virtually non-existent or blocked because of snow banks that are double, if not triple, the heights of most of our children. This pushes buses to pick up students at vulnerable corners on main roads, where visibility is even worse. Speeds are high from cars eager to get to their next destination, especially after being snowed-in for several days.

3. ROADS: Many are snow- or ice-covered; others are plowed with a single lane where snow piles (especially on the corners where there are bus stops) make safe driving nearly impossible with hundreds – if not thousands – of children and parents doing their best to make it to a modified bus stop, where drivers are not expecting them, and are certainly not looking for the groups of children and adults trying to get to school.

4. SIDEWALKS: Despite the efforts of many communities to help out their elderly or sick neighbors, many sidewalks remain unplowed; crosswalks are covered with 5-foot piles of snow, and children and adults are forced to walk in the partially plowed lanes of the main streets.

5. SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURES: A partial roof collapse at Parkville Middle School sends an obvious warning to us all that other school structures might be compromised by the heavy snow. It is impossible to say with any certainty that this is an isolated event that won’t occur in any other school. But what if it does, when the classrooms are filled with children and teachers?

6. COMMUNITY SUPPORT: Our communities are doing their absolute best to rally around their schools and their neighbors. Let us continue to do this by giving us the space and time to assist. Send out the call for assistance in these specific areas: sidewalks, crosswalks, strategic planning of modified bus stops, and even neighborhood plans to help keep our children safe as they make their way back to school when they reopen. If you make us a part of the plan, we can help you make sure our children are safe in their return to school.

Saying that you were able to reopen schools so quickly after Maryland’s worst snow storm will not get you re-elected, will not earn you favors with communities, and will not give you any extra bulleted highlights to feature on a resume as you move up the ladder in the politics of education. In fact, you will have overwhelming support when the interests of our children are put first and foremost as we all work together to recover from this historic storm. Snow days are built into the calendar for a reason. The opportunity to work together rests in your hands. Make the right call for our children and our communities.

Do the right thing and make the right call. Cancel schools for the rest of the week.