Shutting Down Schools: What Gives?

Yesterday, I listened a little bit to The Michael Kay Show where the title host and Don La Greca talked a little bit about a Catholic school shutting down because of inefficient funds to keep it running. The school, St. Anthony in New Jersey, was home to many basketball championships over the years, including some recent ones. It got me back to thinking about the issues about my elementary school shutting down. The place I went to from 1997-03 was ending after 70 plus years. Where does the problem lie as far as closing?

Really, it's more than just one factor, and it amplifies as the years go on. I think one is where you live. Certain parts of the United States are friendly to families. If they can't find a job and/or can't deal with taxes that are high due to possibly tuition or school costs, they might scurry out. That was a thing that La Greca and Kay talked about. The costs were too much for ones that wanted to go to St. Anthony. By the time I graduated in my school district, there was between 70 and 80 students of my year. I think the number has dwindled down a little bit. I've had cousins who graduated with 40 students. People don't want to deal with all sorts of bullshit that occurs.

I hate to be a downer, but where I live, it's slowly becoming a ghost town. There are still a lot of people, but not enough children. Another problem is renovation.  My district has three schools. Two are elementary, which both are planning to close, and a high school. I don't remember there being any issues with the elementary schools. I know in high school whenever there was pretty bad rain storms, there would be leaks to certain parts of it to where  buckets were used to catch the leaks. All three were looking at very high costs. Unfortunately, they took the easy way out instead of fixing things.

For my town, we really don't have much beyond the elementary school. We have a couple gas stations, a post office, convenience store, a small park with baseball fields, a basketball court, and a pool for the summer. There's a couple churches, a small ice cream eatery on the outskirts of town, some car repair areas. The list goes on. It does help we get truckers who are looking to rest a little bit after a long day or night driving on the road. At the end of the day, I really don't know if the town could potentially go bankrupt.

It sucks to see a school go away. Any school, really. The wheels go into motion and it hurts the people who live in an area that closes a school. It's a shame.

Check out this school related blog:
http://sullivanentertainment.blogspot.com/2017/03/snow-stories-and-buffoonish-schools.html

Snow Stories and Buffoonish Schools

Within this week, the entire Northeast of the United States got hit pretty bad by a snowstorm that dumped a few feet of snow in certain parts. Certain states declared emergencies and travel bans were put up as the storm raged on.  It's calmed following the last 48 hours. Stuff like that reminds me of some times when I was younger of snow related storms, particularly school and a few things at home.

One year, it was pretty bad during the winter. There was so much snow from the end of December to early January. It was few feet like this recent once, but it wasn't too bad. Another time was having the temperature so cold in the severe negatives, the school district I went to closed down for the day. That's something to expect in something like North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana. Elementary school wasn't bad with how they handled snow storms. They took action pretty well at times. You didn't have to worry too much regarding the schedules. If they thought it was going to be bad, everyone would get out of the school before the snow got worse. Looking back, I thought they did a pretty good job.

High school, on the other hand, was a nightmare. I'm sure other high schools had issues, but mine was beyond stupidity with how the staff handled things. If it ran on delays, the schedule would be followed but it was less time. The hour ones weren't bad, but the two hour delays were a huge waste of time. Maybe there are a few things that can be done in 20 minutes, but usually that was picked up the next day wherever we left off. Unfortunately, the bells had to be rung manually, but 80 percent of the time, they were always off on delays. The worst was when they decided to shut the school down when the weather was not what they expected. You had maybe five to seven minutes per period, which was very stupid. There was really no point. When it came to that, they were usually horrible. It wasn't just my generation. I had older siblings who had to deal with the same bullshit.

The judgment of my high school was pretty bad. Late into my time there, we had a bad ice storm around February or March one year. In hindsight, you would think everybody would make sure no one winds up getting hurt or killed, right? Wrong. My school along with one other stayed open. It's probably the only time my father refused to take me to school because of weather. I don't blame him. 95 percent of the school stayed in their homes. There was like 20 students that did go and homework was issued, which was very pathetic. I look at safety as an important, and it's a miracle that where I live, nobody gets killed on the road during the winter or a bus flips and has students injured badly. There's a lot of back roads in my neck of the woods, and that's very dangerous for a bus driver for that time. If some of the higher ups could think about safety, then they would think twice about keeping a school delayed or open.

There's not much to say regarding the first college I went to. Applying in person, there was some snow on the ground in May, so there was a little concern. Truth be told, it wasn't too bad. I probably had a couple snow days the first year and didn't see much the second year. The second year was a little more warmer and didn't see as much snow as before. However, the location was a prime target for more than just snow storms. There was bad thunderstorms during my time there and flooding that second year. The TV studio on campus had leaks in the control room. It would get cold at times, and the wind made it hell on your face. You tear up and it freezes whatever is left. It was mostly during the first few weeks of December and mid January up until mid-March.

My second college, on the other hand, was horrible with handling snow storms. While a good majority of the students were living in dorms or within city limits, there was always the commuters, which is common for any college. I went to classes every day, but one day, it was not worth getting into a car accident. I live 10 miles from the college, but with the roads covered and poor visibility, I went back home. I feel safety is at the bottom of their priorities. Some days, it felt like everything should have been shut down, but it wasn't. Even on campus, they didn't bother to salt the sidewalks. You had to hope you didn't fall and hit your head or back. Or worse, break an arm or leg. It was like high school, only worse.

While there's not much outside of those experiences, I've had friends who have been injured pretty badly by winter weather or near injuries. One example was a few people my family knew that were a few years younger than me. They parked on what they thought was a ditch. Instead it was a snowbank and they almost got hurt. Luckily, there was no damage to the car they were in or themselves. Another was a guy four, five years older than me. About 10 or so years ago, he wound up in a bad car accident and had to re-learn how to do basic stuff again. Since then, he made a full recovery and does stuff like any normal person.

That's all to say regarding winter weather. If you have any stories regarding winter, schools, etc... post in the comments.