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Blizzards leave Mammoth students, parents, faculty seeing red |
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Saturday, 06 February 2010 |
Safety first concern as school decides if classes will be cancelled
By Savannah Meyer
Mammoth High School Intern
A weatherman predicts a large blizzard for the Eastern Sierra that he thinks will last for several days. The next day in school the students discuss, in passing, the possibility of a big storm.
The excitement steadily increases. By the day before the storm arrives, everyone is anxious and impatient for the following day. Teachers are preparing students for a delayed due date in case there is no school the following day. Parents are giving their children special instructions; since, many parents are unable to have a snow day from work even if their children do from school. Rumors are flying through the school hallways.
“Did you hear about the storm?” one student asks a classmate.
“Yeah, they say it’s going to be big!”
“I bet tomorrow will be a Red Day.” Just like that a code of honor has been broken.
There is a superstition that if a person mentions the possibility of a Red Day, a day when school is cancelled due to weather conditions, they have jinxed the possibility for everyone else.
But there is a lot more than just a little snow and superstition that goes into the making of a Red Day.
Part of Richard Bailey’s responsibility as Director of Maintenance and Transportation for the Mammoth Unified School District for the past 15 years is to aid in the decision about whether or not school should be cancelled.
Every time there is a big blizzard, Bailey wakes up in the middle of the night and looks out his window. He watches the snow fall heavily to the ground. There seems to be no ceasing in its steady flow. He asks himself, “Can we get the students to and from school safely today?”
Then he calls the airport to get a reading from their wind meter and Caltrans and local snow plow operators to get a second opinion on the outlook of the storm. Sometimes he even drives down to Crowley to get a first-hand look at the conditions on Highway 395. He can also look at weather predictions online.
“Predicting has gotten better with the help of the Internet.”
Even if students are sleeping warm and peaceful in their beds, Bailey must be awake to investigate their bus stops to make sure that the stops are in good enough condition for the children to wait at in a few hours.
Bailey’s investigation is not an exact science. “It’s really a guess because the weather can deteriorate so quickly here.”
After he has completed his research, Bailey must report his findings to Richard McAteer, the district superintendent who makes the final decision about Red Days.
“Some of it is objective, but by and large, I think this system works well,” said McAteer.
If there has been a lot of snow accumulation during the night or it appears as if it will not continue to fall quite as heavily in the afternoon, a Yellow Day might be called where school will start two hours later. On the other hand, if a Yellow Day is called and the storm gets worse, a Red Day can be declared by 7:30 a.m.
By 5:30 a.m., the verdict has been decided. Students, parents, teachers and faculty hold their breath as they wait for the fateful ringing of the telephone.
This year the telephone rings in a different manner than past years. In prior years every first period class created a snow tree. The teacher would get the call and pass the news on to a few students. Those students, or in most cases, the students’ parents, were obligated to pass the message on to the next student.
There were flaws in this system. Sometimes families would be asleep and miss the message altogether or the message would get lost or confused along its route. People’s phone numbers could change during the year or were recorded incorrectly. There were always a handful of students who would show up to school dutifully with their hands cold from shoveling snow only to find the door locked and the parking lot deserted.
This year an automatic phone dialer is expected to pass on the message without any flaws. The same message is also available on the district Web site, on the radio, or by calling (760) 934-7162.
Students have the tendency to get their hopes up for a Red Day and then are disappointed when this does not happen.
“Bad weather should be expected where we live,” Bailey said.
After the Red Day has been called, teachers and students handle the news differently. Some teachers become concerned with the loss of an academic day. This concern is addressed by dismissing school one day later in the summer or subtracting a day out of spring break for every Red Day that takes away from school in the winter.
One teacher at MHS, Erin Le Francois, believes school is important, but students should be careful. “I feel pretty comfortable with how Red Days are called. The fact of the matter is we live where it snows, so people should plan on coming to school when it is snowing as long as the roads are deemed safe and passable by the ‘powers that be.’ It can be a little icy, so everyone, especially high school students driving to school should not rush or hurry if they are late. Take your time and get to school safely.”
Lynne Peabody, a teacher at Mammoth High School and a parent of two children in elementary school, views Red Days as important for the safety of the students. “I don’t like the idea of little kids trying to get dropped off and young drivers rushing to school in heavy snow. I never second guess Red Days. I believe that they have the students’ safety in mind when they call a Red Day.”
Meanwhile students enjoy getting a break from school. Out of the 100 high school students who were polled, half of them said that they use the Red Day to catch up on their sleep. Other students spend the day watching TV; going skiing, snowboarding, or sledding; spending time with friends; or studying and working on homework.
Savannah Meyer is a Mammoth High School junior and contributed regularly to the Mammoth Times this year.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 13 February 2010 )
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