Less Snow, More Snow Days?

The schools here were closed today. A snow day? No, it didn't snow. This has become normal it seems. The schools here in Pennsylvania close for bad weather much more than they ever did when I was in school.

Today the reason was a forecast of freezing rain. I'm not sure if there was any freezing rain. But they also sometimes close in advance due to a forecast of snow. The next day when the snowfall is much less than predicted (or doesn't materialize at all) it seems ridiculous that the kids had to miss school. Do they call and un-do the closure? No, the kids just stay home.

They also close school when it just gets too cold. I'm fairly certain that I had to stand outside waiting for the school bus in temperatures in the single digits - when measured in kelvin. I have to wonder if they give days off school when it gets too sunny in places like Florida.

The other thing that is missing from schools today is the 1-hour delay. When I was a kid, we had 1-hour delays, 2-hour delays, and complete cancellations. I can remember only a few early dismissals. I don't think 1-hour delay is an option anymore. There's never been one since my kids have been in school. What happened to them? Did snow plows get slower? Is it not possible to clear the roads in an hour anymore?

I don't know how these rampant closures prepare the children for adulthood. I don't get the day off when it snows. They get to stay home, but I have to drive my car in those terribly unsafe conditions to get to my job.

Why don't we just get school buses like this one?

I probably sound old now. When I was a kid we had to walk to school in the snow uphill both ways while being chased by bears! Well that's enough of my ranting about school closures, time to read today's comic. It never snows in the comic. Maybe it should. I don't know what the frogs would do in the snow.

Amphibian.com comic for 27 January 2016