Yes, I have to admit with a daughter in Shafer I am much more informed (and concerned) with what is happening in Shafer than in either Bushkill or Lower Nazareth elementary schools.
While I don't think we were 100% on the same page with the discussion in the comments, the point did come out that Shafer receives more attention on this site. From a demographic standpoint, I would anticipate that there are more readers who live in the Borough and Upper Nazareth than do Lower Nazareth and Bushkill - only an observation. As a result of that plus my own daughter in Shafer it does get more attention from me and comments from readers.
I'll hit the issue that raised this point in the next post, but what I want to say here is that I would love to have as many conversations here about Bushkill and Lower Nazareth as we do about Shafer. So if you have questions or information you want to share, feel free to email me (editor@newsovercoffee.com) and I can post them anonymously or reference your name (it is your call). I want the conversation about all the schools, townships, and boroughs.
To that end, there was a situation that took place Monday where Bushkill had no power and school was not closed. This upset some parents, and it would have upset me as well.
With the power out, the students were bused to school, then to the HS where they sat in the auditorium, and then back to Bushkill and from Bushkill bused home. Was it really worth it?
I think what mostly bothered people was that the notice regarding the power outage arrived by email after the elementary bell and as a result parents couldn't decide for themself to send or not. The notice I received was time stamped before 6 a.m., but when I checked email at 7:45 a.m. it hadn't arrived. Only later in the day did it pop into my box (three times). Was this intentional? I don't know. It is a new system, but it also was not announced on Channel 69 as my wife had that on in the morning, so it would seem the decision was to send and noticed arrived too late.
For parents of Bushkill students, what do you think? What should be done the next time something like this happens? Or was it no big deal?
6 comments:
Dr. Lesky commented about the Bushkeill ES power outage at the 4/16 board meeting. They received notice of the power outage at approximately 5:20AM. The admin had a tough decision as to either close the school or bring the kids in. Dr. Lesky said that they utlimately decided to bring the kids in for school because if they sent out the notice, they were not sure if everybody would get the notice (i.e, their home's power was out). It's a tough situation.
I agree it is not an easy decision regarding whether or not to have school, but the concern I heard was that the information regarding the outage wasn't relayed to the parents before they brought/sent their kids in taking the decision out of their hands.
5:20 and 7 are very different, if today they don't have power given it was within an hour of start it is much more difficult to inform parents, but at 5:20 it could have been noted the power was out, this is what we are going to do, school is still open. Let the parents decide what to do.
Indeed, they did know at 5:20AM. However, NASD typically uses email to address parents about delays/closures. If half of the district is w/o power, how will they get those messages? Even worse, who actually checks their emails in the morning before work/school? I know I've been caught in this situation (the Monday that the district closed due to cold weather).
Perhaps NASD should go to a system whereby they use email/phone calls/text messages. Then maybe more people could get the message before hand. Just a thought...
As a parent in Bushkill, I would think Monday was a tough call- even if the district did notify that Bushkill closed, I couldn't have gotten the message because I was without power too- so no phone, TV or internet. I guess I could have gone out to the car to listen to the radio... the other tricky part is once the kids were in school, there was no way to contact parents who were still at home because they had no power and Bushkill had no phone lines (except cell I'm sure)- Not sure what I would have done if I were admin, but I'm not them, so I believe they did the best they could with the situation handed. After seeing so much footage of the terrible tragedy in Virginia this week, this seems like peanuts.
I am also a parent in Bushkill and would agree it is no comparison to the events at Virginia Tech. But, I feel they should not have had school in a building with no power or means to feed these kids. I never lost power at home but know many who did. Friends were calling to see if we heard anything. If the district had closed and put the word out on TV, radio and cell phones (in a timely manner), most people would have known. My first cell phone message was at 9:48. If the buses don't show up or the school doors are locked, it's a safe bet there is no school.
Many of us thought it was a waste and ridiculous to be carting these kids back and forth. I was also told school may have remained open due to working parents. The school is not a day care, if they can't teach then they should be closed.
As everyone can clearly see, the Federal, State, and Local Emergency Management Plans are not working! Let's hope nothing serious happens around here...
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