As a former high school teacher I can tell you that most kids are driving to school and are not about to go in the snow. It’s just an excuse. When I taught in Special School District the head of transportation was the one that called school. I’m hearing that the superintendent is now making the decision according to some of my friends that are still working. I guess as always these days, liability enters into everything. It’s probably better to be safe than sorry. We won’t know if today was a bad call until it’s over.

Yes, based on weather predictions, schools should have closed. One day of school is hardly worth the potential lifetime injuries that may result from even one kid’s foolish or careless behavior while walking to school in an icestorm–or even from damages that may result from a legitimate accident. Also, early dismissal creates major logistical problems for parents of younger children, especially. Today’s courtrooms are already filled to capacity, so when the “experts” forecast severe weather, school administrators are obliged to listen.

Well I am looking out my office window right now and it appears it’s a good call!

Anyone who can read a map can see that for 2 days now the weather has been falling apart as it reaches St. Louis. So what if we MIGHT get snow. The weather forecasters should say its a possibility and leave it at that. Instead they create panic in everyone in the community. Schools have been called, even though there is absolutely nothing on the ground. People are cancelling medical appointments that took them weeks to get scheduled. I could go on and on. I just hate to think of the ramifications to our economy because of a prediction that MIGHT happen. Well, guess what folks, we MIGHT have a major earthquake tomorrow so maybe we all should stay home and hide under our tables.

I think the reason schools are calling off so easily is that the state of Missouri pentalizes schools financially if the schools do not make their monthly attendance quotas. If they held school on a day like today, they fear that some parents might keep their kids home.

Keep the schools open, its just snow people!

This is getting ridiculous! I’ve agreed with most of the school closings we’ve had thus far but when I got a call today at 6:15 - there was nothing on the ground. With the weather being behind schedule, it seems they could have gotten them there for at least a 1/2 day. What happened to scheduling snow days in? If i remember correctly, we had a week scheduled when i was in school. Our district schedules ONE. How about putting more in there and letting us off early instead of adding days on? One more day of my kids sitting at home watching TV or playing instead of being at their desk learning. One more day added on to the summer - which is a joke in itself. By the end of the year, everyone will want to be out of school. The kids will spend that added week helping the teachers pack up their room while they grumble about how they should have been off a week earlier. It’s a joke.

I’m looking out my window and I think it’s a good decision too. The people commenting on how it’s just a little snow are probably the ones driving like morons in any kind of weather (most likely with their headlights off). I am a college student and I for one will not be on the roads today.

I’m from Wisconsin, and I can’t help but get both amused and annoyed about the way St. Louisans act at the first mention of ice/snow. This is the fourth snow day that these kids have had in a month. The last one was February 22nd, and that day, the roads were clear and it didn’t even snow. As long as people take their time getting to where they need to go, they’ll get to their destination just fine. The way this city shuts down every time it snows is ridiculous.

I understand why some would be upset with school being off, but does anyone understand what it takes to release early? People need to realize that many districts pay to have a company give them advice as to what to do. And the transportation director IS the one who essentially calls school. They put their recommendation into the Supt. and they go from there. People might want to do their research before they jump on the bandwagon. It seems as though the schools are criticized no matter what they do. No one is ever happy.

After driving to work, it is definitely a good call.

Stop complaining about the schools making the call on the best information they have.

Complain when there’s not the snow predicted and school was called.

Complain louder when you have to pick up your kids after 2 hours of class.

Complain really loud when they don’t call school, and a bus gets in an accident.

You can’t have it both ways. Didn’t everyone throw a huge fit when some schoold a couple weeks ago were not cancelled and then cancelled a few hours after all the kids got there?? Well if schools had not closed last night, that same thing would be happening today.

So you can’t complain when they have school and then you have to come pick up your kid AND complain that they closed school early to avoid the mess and confusion but it doesn’t snow. Better to err on the side of caution.

I do think they should call school off. I remember in the 80’s when I was in elementary school and they often seemed to take their time closing schools. We would stand at bus stops in the freezing cold waiting for buses that never came or we’d go to school just to be sent home in the middle of a snowstorm. I would much rather take the “safe than sorry” approach. It’s no fun being on the road slipping and sliding, going 30 mph, taking an hour longer to get home than normal because of accidents. As far as the school year being extended, when I was in school and they used all of the snow days and more, they were smart enough to just extend the school day by 10-15 minutes and change our last two half days of the school year into full days. It was not that noticeable.

I muse when I read comments from “out of towners” who live or lived in areas where snow storms are more frequent and severe. They usually comment that St louisans over-react to forecasts of heavy snow, that we typically do not know how to drive in it, etc.

Maybe what these people are saying is true. Maybe we aren’t as experienced in the snow as someone from Wisconsin, or North Dakota, or Alaska, or Canada. So what?

Lisa, please don’t be too annoyed! Isn’t there something more important that annoys you?

If St. Louis were located in Alaska, today’s school call would probably be a joke. But we’re not…….and so it wasn’t!

So, we make our snow decisions based on who we are, where we are, and what we’re comfortable with. That’s all we can do!

Personally I don’t want to take the chance sending my children out there if the weather could be bad. I don’t want them on the buses, nor do I want to pick them up. I’m certainly not worried about my driving, but those who are in a hurry and upset about being “put out” picking up their children. They aren’t going to learn anything that is worth putting them in danger, as parents it’s our jobs to teach them also. Take the time with your kids and make it special. Gotta go, time for art class, they can be very creative if you take the time.

Yep - good call. Just look outside, would you want your kids traveling in that?

It’s always a gamble when you call off school, but I don’t think the decision is ever taken lightly. The administrators made the right call.

To all you angry, aggravated, complaining parents with young children at home today:
Would you rather your child be out there in snowy conditions - either standing on a bus corner or IN a “no-seatbelts” bus on the road - with hundreds of unexperienced teen drivers spinning around out there? There are many more serious issues in today’s world to “complain” about. Better yet, put a smile on your face & grow up, spend some quality time with your kids, teach them right from wrong, and set a good example for our future generation….your child may be the leader of our country one day!

It was definitely a good idea to close schools. It minimalizes the amount of traffic on the roads and gives them a chance to get the streets cleaned and maybe kids can have school tomorrow. In addition, STL does not really shut down when it snows or ices a I lived in a Southern State that where malls, grocery stores and companies would close. Here it is most just the schools and who would not want to protect our most precious cargo when possible. In addition I would venture to say that the resources to deal with snow and ice here are not as extensive as those in S. Dakota, Minnesota or Wisconsin.

Now, two hours after I wrote the TOTD topic, the decision is starting to look a bit better, eh? I drove downtown on I-44 and took. my. time. about. it. A car in front of me spun out — seemingly for no reason at all.

I love the discussion here, however. Please continue!

Lisa, I am not sure it is long time STLians who have issues with snow. Many came from the country and know how to deal with it. They are the ones you see pulling folks out of ditches. The new folks who came here from god knows where, or just never learned how to drive and bought big SUVs as the “drive for nothing down” car lots expanded cause problems for everybody. Truckers don’t drive as well as they used to either. Trucking companies put drivers on the roads they never would have years ago. They are saying in the press they will hire illegals because americans won’t take the jobs. (which I feel is bull)
If you are sane, you avoid paying deductables and risking injury by staying away from the roads on days like today and just sit home if you can and grumble about the “other guy’s driving”. The TV media seems to be stirring up the story and that’s who you hear the loudest. They have reporters driving around all day when they should not be adding another car to the roads to make way for the plows. Us STL citizens don’t trumpet this as being armageddon like the TV media does. It’s a story. They would be reporting on Bush admin follies if it wasn’t largely forbidden. What’s left? SNOW AND ICE!
Back on subject…it’s money that drives school closings now. Didn’t used to be. And we didn’t need parents to drive us to school back in the day. We put on boots and slogged through it. And the teachers didn’t pamper us. You knew where your wet boots and coats went and you put them there. Them you studied all day and walked home. Busses came when it was time for those who lived farther away and you were welcome to hitch a ride if you didn’t feel like walking back home. Now it’s money and insurance and parents ready to sue that make the whole scene so ridiculous. Can’t lose that state money! Be careful folks. I’m still getting sleet and no snow and I think I’ll be up on this hill until April.

I wonder when the doctor offices will start calling patients to reschedule their appointments? I have an appointment this afternoon. I made it to work before the snowstorm and I really would just like to stay in the office until I can venture home tonite. But all this extra driving today to and from work will be a royal pain. Let’s see …. should I go get my old bones checked for density or should I just stay at the office to lower the risk of one of those old bones from breaking?

How I wish I was a kid again bored but happy at home watching the snow come down.

Unless things have changed, the state requires the school to serve lunch before they call school go get state funding for that day. You also have to get a minimum number of students to get the funding for that day. I’m not sure what percentage of students that is, but the person in charge has to make a decision based on more than one factor. Just imagine having elementary, middle & high school all starting at different times all using the same buses. A lot of districts have snow days in their yearly calendar. The district that my wife is in is off today. It is the last day that they can have off without making it up. Remember we are talking about the safety of our kids here. If people from up north think we are so dumb here, they should move back where they came from. It’s starting to look like a good call.

From where I’m sitting looking out my home office window in O’Fallon, MO - schools could have been open. However, I understand why they closed. The dooms-day forecast. I also have to remember that there is a HUGE area of rural roads that my kids’ school buses have to cover, and it could be worse out there. I’d rather them call off school for the whole day than have to get the kids up and out and then turn around in a couple hours and retrieve them again. I happen to have the luxury of working from home so snow days and sick kids don’t hamper my job at all, but when I was working in the office, it was easier for me to just plan for the whole day rather than do all the running around, get into the office, then have to turn back around shortly after arriving to pick the kids back up again. Tough call for administrators I’m sure. I bet they hear both sides every time they close school…give em a break.

It makes good sense to err on the side of safety, even if the odds are against anyone’s being in a serious accident. If there’s a remote chance of a bus sliding off a road on a steep incline, then let’s not risk it. If you want to blame somebody, I suppose you can take out your anger on the weather forecasters for screaming doomsday/blizzard either inaccurately or prematurely, but canceling for a snow day a few times is hardly a reason to panic. We have a foreign exchange student from Russia living with us, and she is VERY happy to get an extra day off — something that never happens in her home country.

We used to walk 5 miles to school- uphill both ways- in deeper snow than this, and barefoot too.
Sissies.

What about teaching kids responsibility for the work force that’s ahead of them. Are you going to teach them that they just stay home when a snowflake hits the ground or when they have a sniffle? My mother sent me to school with a box of kleenex and told me to make the best of the day. Sure I didn’t learn much that day, but I learned how to keeping going though I didn’t feel like it. That’s why I have perfect attendace at work and why they can count on me to be here, no matter what. And when I was a teenager, I didn’t get to drive to school in the snow. My parents wouldn’t let me. (it’s called the upper hand, many parents don’t know the meaning) I do recommend that you take your young drivers out to a parking lot and teach them how to drive in this stuff, they are going to have to learn sooner or later. Better a parking lot than a ditch.

I can also remember 3 inches of ice being on the ground when I was in junior high and Collinsville not calling school. It was so bad that we had to hang on to the bus to keep from falling when we got on or off and had to use school books as sleds to get up and down hills. While every one laughed at you for falling. Think I should have sued for humiliation? Or for back pain because I fell or slipped numerous times on the way home? No, what didn’t kill me, or my back made it stronger.

They will make up for the lost day.I’d like to here from the poor high-school and middle-school buss drivers! I’d also like to thank them I have 2 teens that take the buss everyday I can only imagen how stessfull it must be driving all these kids around a good day!!!!!!!!!

Folks not from here where they get a lot of snow are not generally used to a climate like STL where ice is often an underlayment. That’s what we get here Lisa darlin’. Not cute fluffy snow that you make into a snow person and take pics with your cute kids and pets. We get hard, irregular packed ice that can be invisible. That changes things dear Lisa. Most temporate climates are like that. I suspect if you are here any length of time you will be eating your words. And a lot of comfort foods. LOL Spend your time getting truckers from your old stomping grounds to slow down. They don’t get it either.

#25 A SNOWFLAKE you must be kidding try a billion Rachel be carefull on your drive home I’d hate to see your perfect attendence ruined.

People from Wisconsin handle snow better than people in St. Louis? Imagine that! And I’m sure people from Siberia or northern Canada can cope with it better than smug Wisconsinites who don’t relaize that it’s all relative. It all depends on what you’re used to. Obviously people who are used to a certain type of weather will fare better than those where such conditions are more sporadic. I didn’t think this was so difficult to understand.

Rachel, you sound like the person who comes to work sick as a dog and infects the rest of us. There’s a fine line between a good work ethic and common sense. Maybe you ought to unchain yourself from your cubicle and take a look outside to see that it’s more than a “snowflake”. I don’t think that this would ruin your perfect attendance.

Actually, I think Angela from “The Office” is here posting under the name “Rachel”.

Sad but true ………Rachel ten years from now none of your bosses or coworkers will remember you for your perfect attendance lighten up take a vacation.

Actually, Mike “darlin,’” I’ve lived here almost 6 years, so I don’t think I’ll be eating my words anytime soon. And you obviously haven’t been to northern Wisconsin, where in fact, ice/sleet does fall alot of the time before it snows. Therefore, your notion that people that aren’t from here aren’t used to ice/sleet as an “underlayment” is pretty much nonsense.

Rachel-Making them go to school is fairly pointless if the school is closed don’t ya think?

Rachel,

I bet your coworkers can’t stand that you come in coughing and sneezing and hacking all over the office. Your snotty fingers are used to touch the copier buttons, door knobs, elevator buttons, basically everything in your office. You might think that they admire your “toughness” but in reality they are holding their breath around you, trying not to inhale your dirty germs. Seriously, stay home when you’re sick - if not for yourself to get better, for the rest of us to stay healthy.

Thanks,

The Management

I’m a teacher at the only district that didn’t get out today. Our attendance is low (I had 50% in my first hour) and parents are calling left and right to get their kids out early. Say what you want, but from an educational perspective, the day is a complete wash. There’s no point in doing much because you’ll have to do it all over again when the kids who stayed home come back. The students are restless and anxious. Then again, I’m bitter because every other district is home, including my teacher husband, so take that for what it’s worth.

I”m from Missouri and I get annoyed and amused when people named Lisa move here. On a serious note, its just plain rude to make a post like that. People in general don’t like to be made fun of. I’m betting Wisconsians feel the same way.

My friend from O’Fallon, Mo called me. I’m downtown St Louis. Hardly any snow. A very narrow but heavy band. So we all many not be on the same page!

I”m willing to bet Rachel doesn’t have kids…….with having such a perfect attendance and what not…..

My family and I attended my father’s funeral yesterday. I find it hard to swallow that people are here complaining about something as trivial as snow fall and closing schools. Im grateful that my children are here with me instead of possibly being at risk of being in accidents to and from school. Put your petty complaints behind, take a look at the snow and feel blessed that you can see its beauty and spend the day with your loved ones.

I think it’s funny that the area universities have the sense to call off afternoon and evening classes, but as of 15 minutes ago, public school districts such as Pattonville have not called off classes of any type, or at any time.

School disctricts have GOT to put state funding issues aside when it comes to matters of student safety. There is no reason children should be in school at this moment; the roads are getting increasingly worse.

It’s sad that money is ultimately the real reason these school districts put the lives of our children at risk.

Pattonvile was called off this morning actually.

I feel sorry for the person that makes that decision. How many times have they closed schools because “major winter storm” and nothing has happened. I didn’t believe it was coming this morning, since they said to start 3-ish. I was up at 3:30 and thought the weather reporters were wrong again. Of course now knowing what is happening at this moment; how would they have ever gotten these kids home? They made right decision this time….

As of 12:32 pm, Pattonville is not listed on KMOV as being closed, which is what I was basing my judgement on.

http://www.kmov.com/weather/school_closings.html

I hope all the people complaining early in the day about school closing are carefully rethinking their stances. It was obviously the right decision seeing as how much of St. Louis has 4 inches already and it is expected to continue for hours more.

As for Lisa’s comments, I think a lot of people from up north assume we have the same resources to deal the snow. There is no way St. Louis has the same number of trucks out cleaning up this mess as in Wisconsin.

As for Rachel’s comments, I worked with someone who shared her views. And we couldn’t stand her. When she was fired, presumably because she cared more about attendance than performance, we had to disinfect her cube. Sending kids to school in terrible road conditions or while legitimately sick does not teach them anything worth while.

I left for lunch in St. Peters at 11:30. It was hardly snowing and the streets were clear. I just go back (is’s now almost 1:00) and it’s like a total white out. The streets have turned into a total mess. I’m going to head home before it get’s much worse. Pattonville was the second St. Louis Co. district I saw closed this morning. I was watching for my wife. They closed her school while she was in the shower getting ready to go. She dried her hair and went back to bed. Smart Lady.

My boss appreciates me and my attendance and that who signs my paychecks. Other coworkers share their germs with me that’s usually how I get sick. Actually germs are usually around before you ever feel the symtoms. So keep lysoling those cubicles people, and atms, coffee pots, soda machines, water coolers, the list goes on and on.

My point was at 10:00 last night the east side should not have called off school because there wasn’t anything on the roads. And at 8:00 this morning there wasn’t enough to fuss about, and by 3:00 they’ll have the roads cleared. So why not send them to school so they aren’t still in school in July.

While I agree that some school closings have been unnecessary, today’s is warranted. I homeschool so it was a school day here anyway, however. Someone mentioned that this doesn’t teach children about the real world - and I do agree with that to a certain extent. When I was in the workforce, had I called in on a day like today I would’ve likely lost my job or at the very least gotten a reprimand.

But, if you’re raising your kids the right way, a canceled day of school isn’t going to teach them the wrong way to handle real life.

Karen, I did it that way because that’s obviously how Lisa talks…rudely and without thinking! Well, the guy who usually plows the neighbors out is stuck on a hill in the ice. He has many years of experience winching folks out of snowy ditches. So it is bad out there folks, at least on the east side. We haven’t gotten much snow yet, just an icy sleet that is sticking pretty thickly. It was a good call to close the schools today. Here’s hoping Lisa and those like her stay our of the ditches (see how nice I can be darlin’?). Rachel…there is something to be said for perfect attendance at wotk when you own the biz! No one else will come in when it’s all yours. Methinks the bloggers are royally pissed because they can’t shop today. LOL

You gentlemen and ladies with your whining, it’s snow. Happens all the time up here in Chicago we either get 6 inches of snow or it’s zero degrees. Gotta love this winter.

Pattonville was one of the earliest to announce their district’s closing, based purely on the official weather forecasts. They posted this on TV last night, around 8:00 p.m.

Watch and learn before casting thy stones………..

Have you seen the size of the plows in,say,Waupaca County, Wisconsin? We ain’t got nuthin’ anywhere near that size ’round here!! We just don’t get enough snow here to justify buying that kind of gear. We just plod along as best we can.

Mike, “darlin’”, if anyone is rude, it’s you!!

Good for you and your joyless, self-righteous work ethic, Rachel, but I see nothing wrong with a snow day or two (or three) every year for kids. And occasionally for their parents too. My kids’ safety is far more important than some rigid and uncompromising view of what constitutes good work habits. Besides, there’s nothing better than being a kid and waking up at 5:30AM to learn that school is cancelled.

The biggest downside is that it can be a hardship for working parents, and I feel for people with inflexible and unsympathetic employers who can’t fathom that on rare but unavoidable occasions life gets in the way of the job. Work and school are obviously vitally important, but anyone who puts those things above all else is rigid and unreasonable. Take a vacation day and have a little fun.

You can’t make everybody happen! Being from the north I laugh too at the reaction here to the snow! But do you want your kids on the roads with people that don’t know how to drive in it??? It doesn’t snow often enough here for people to know what they are doing. Better safe than sorry!

I’ve lived in St. Louis for 10 years now, after spending the previous 30 up north. I tell you, I’m just as nervous about driving in St. Louis with this kind of snow (or any snow for that matter) and I’m glad that the schools are closed. But, I’ll never get used to the fact that St. Louisans don’t seem to think that anything can be done about the snow (just like there is nothing that can be done about a thunderstorm). Up north, the plows run all night if they have to, and even the backroads are cleared pretty quickly. Here, even the Interstates are not plowed immediately! It’s criminally stupid! St. Louisans need to recognize that yes, we do get plenty of snow, and that we need to pay to clear the roads. Crippling our economy for a day or two, and failing to prevent dozens of accidents, just because we don’t bother (or can’t even imagine) clearing the roads is just plain dumb.

Just to add to that: snowtires are another effective way of getting about in the snow and ice. I don’t know how often other St. Louisans use these, but based on casual conversations with coworkers, I’d have to say it’s pretty low. Snowtires alone would prevent many accidents, even on our perennially unplowed roads.

I’m in O’Fallon, MO - north of 70 - and we’ve had periodic heavy snowfall. The snow is JUST covering the grass, but the streets are still clear. Heck, I even delivered Meals on Wheels today with no problems. Just a little snow falling at the moment.

I’m in Manchester, and there is at least 8 inches here.

Sorry, Jimbo, but the St. Louis area does not get anything near the amount of snow to justify huge, all-night-running cadres of snow plows. We do the best we can under the normally mild conditions we anticipate. We have averaged around 10 inches of snow or less for the entire winter over the past two winters. And even this year we have yet had only a week or so with over 6 inches on the ground at once. Day after tomorrow, this snowfall will be gone or nearly gone, and by tomorrow morning all major roads will be open and fine to drive on. Four or five days from now, the snow will be gone and we’ll be anticipating spring.

It is categorically absurd to expect St. Louis to martial the kind of resources for snow and ice that are necessary in Chicago, Wisconsin, Minnesota, or other such northern climes. Today’s weather is an extreme aberration; our climate is normally much milder. We’ll live with it — and will, as some who are writing here need to — get over it.

Wow, I have been reading this all day, off and on, and I just can’t believe the rudeness of some of the commenters. First of all, when you make an intentionally rude comment (Lisa, for instance), someone is going to call you on it. Secondly, if you are going to comment that “where I came from” handles snow/ice/traffic/schools/sports or whatever better than St Louis, someone is going to remark that if you preferred it there, then perhaps you should return. Don’t be rude and expect that there will not be a response. That type of comment is designed to provoke a reaction, so take it.

As for the decision to call school: we have had some excellent viewpoints here from teachers and others involved in the decision-making process. Recently, everyone was upset that the St Louis public school district did not close school based on a drive around North St Louis at 4:30 am, as reported by the Post-Dispatch. They do the best they can. My children go to a private elementary school, and we have a significant commute. Last week, I discussed snow days with our principal. Her comment? Safety first. We will support any decision you make. It seems that if your children ride the bus, the choice is still yours: is the bus safe today? In two or three or seven hours, will I still feel that my children will be safe on their way home?

Would you rather be stuck at home for the next few days and deal with make-up work, or become well-aquainted with the area hospital waiting rooms?

I think most of the comments here have been well-considered, and contributed to a (mostly) lively, congenial debate. I grew up in Massachusetts. We had some snow and ice there on occasion. We also had hills, which complicate matters, just like they do here–it isn’t flat. Even if the towns had thousands of fabulous snow plows and mountains of ice melt–which we did when I was growing up in the 80’s–they don’t any longer. Budget cuts took care of the excess and snow plows were sold or not maintained. So all of the snide comments about being from somewhere else that is better don’t really fly, because municipalities are functioning on bare-bones budgets everywhere.

Please, enjoy your snow day. Say a little prayer for the woman who buried her father yesterday. Be very, very careful during your drive home, which is now extremely treacherous. The snow will be gone soon, and everyone will be complaining about how hot it is.

Sorry, Boyd, but the relatively mild weather here does not justify a weak response to snow events. As you point out, six inches here is an anomaly, so there is no need for “huge, all-night-running cadres of snow plows” like up north. You prove the point that snow removal here should be an easy job. Even two or three inches causes school closing, shut-downs, etc. This region has plenty of money to spend on this (rural Wisconsin doesn’t but somehow they seem to manage just fine), but I suspect that things will only change when St. Louisans realize that they are getting the shaft. I think it takes a former outsider to realize how absurd this is.

My wife just drove home a distance of about 5 miles in northwest St. Louis County. She saw about a dozen cars in the ditches and a car in front of her fishtailing wildly going up a ramp (again, SNOW TIRES, ANYONE?). Portions of I-70 are at a standstill. This is all preventable and it is *not* good for our economy. I’ll bet you that we lose more money being crippled by a little snow than we would spend to effectively remove it.

Also, I don’t offer these comments to bash St. Louis. I love it here and am genuinely concerned how this problem (and it is a problem) impacts our lives and livelihoods.

Jimbo — Weak response? You are still comparing apples to oranges. We are not Wisconsin. Considering that our area gets a snowfall like today’s maybe once in 3-4 years hardly justifies our gearing up for Montana and North Dakota winters. Your argument that snow tires on cars can make the difference proves mine.

One to three days of crippled productivity per year does not justify millions of dollars worth of snow plows and contingency planning on the part of our highway department. I repeat: We do the best we can under the extremely limited severe conditions with which we must contend. Give it a rest.

I, like Jimbo, did not intend to “bash” St. Louis, or be rude when I posted my comment. I apologize to all of you who took offense.

Lisa — Although I do not presume to speak for the STLTOTD community — no offense taken. Stick by your guns and the devil take the hindmost.

I support the decision of schools to call off today. Where I live there are many back roads (ie hilly, windy, and low vision on a good day) those roads decide whether the district has school or not. Many people are complaining about how “their” road is fine, but you really have to look at all the aspects of the districts. Colleges have to look at how many commuters they have and their safety. If you were to send kids in for part of the day look at what the buses would have had to drive in. that would be terrible. Plus the hassle for the parents to find someone to pick up the kids or be home they got there. The schools would also have a hard time getting ahold of all the parents/ guardians.

I agree with the decision to call off school today. I was especially pleased to see that one district in particular, (who chose the last time to send the kids out sliding on the ice to school, whilst the other districts closed, only to send them home 3 hours later), got it RIGHT this time, as they were the first and only district in the St. Louis Metro area to close. As far as people complaining, it is always better to err on the side of caution. DId you see that trailer truck spin out on US-64 today? That was scary! Now imagine it that back part of the truck slammed into a school bus carrying your child, and how if that happened you could possiby be arranging a funeral or sitting in the ER right now instead of reading this post.

Also, I would like to point out that some people view the schools as a free babysitting service, so some of the complaining may be stemming from that too. Just another perspective. Anyways, everyone stay warm, be safe, and let’s all hope for warmer weather soon!

Good call. Though it didn’t look like much early on, by the time it was all over, we got 11 inches here in Fenton. Once it got a good start, it really came down fast and heavy. I shovelled our driveway, porch, walkway and the sidewalks in front of our house three times during the day and was impressed at the rate it was coming down. By the time I finished once, where I’d started had another inch or two. So I went in the house, got warm and dry and then went back out again later. Bottom line, I was glad my kids were home safe, warm and dry (until they chose to not be when they went out to sled and play). The plows didn’t come through our subdivision until nearly dark, so trying to go anywhere with all that snow out there would have been a bad choice, especially since we live on a high hill. This is the first year in several that my kids have even had a snow day and this year is a record for them with four so far. Again, good call with the snow day.

I can’t help but be simultaneously amused and annoyed by the comments to the effect of “When I lived in Siberia….” I used to have that provincial mindset until a few facts smacked me alongside the head. I remember when our warehouse in Birmingham, Alabama, shut down because they had one inch–ONE INCH–of snow. The city was paralyzed, no one going anywhere. Had to laugh at “those wimps” until someone pointed out that they only had one snowplow in the entire county and basically had a ten minute supply of salt to last them all winter. When you add drivers who may have never coped with snow in their lives to the reality that there was no snow removal policy in effect, yeah, the results could have been quite messy.

So. I’m not terribly upset at the school closures. It’s a liability issue for sure. One slip of the bus on the ice…two kids with sprains, one with a broken arm and three more with a bump on the head–can you say multi-million dollar lawsuits? And, come on, the ones most likely to complain about the school closures would be the first ones on the phone dialing up the lawyer.

Yes it should have been closed - older more experienced drivers can’t hardly drive in that stuff, much less a teenager!