Via WNDU in South Bend, “The South Bend Community School Corporation board has called an emergency public meeting later this week to vote on placing Superintendent Dr. Todd Cummings on administrative leave” over “Cummings’ decision to not cancel school last Thursday, Feb. 6, when road conditions were icy.”
Full statement from the South Bend Community School Corporation:
At South Bend Schools, the safety of our students and staff is always our top priority. We understand that today’s weather conditions created challenges across our community. We want to assure families that we took extensive measures to prepare our schools and buildings, and maintain safe conditions for arrival and dismissal.
We have a detailed process in place to assess and respond to severe weather. Based on available forecasts and road condition assessments, we made the decision to hold school today and took extensive precautions to ensure the safety of everyone on our campuses. This morning, over 19 tons of salt were applied to bus lanes, drive entryways, and parking lots. In addition, our building engineers distributed more than 7,000 pounds of MAXpro Premium Ice Melt on sidewalks and entrances. These efforts reflect our commitment to ensuring that all students, teachers, and staff can safely access and navigate our facilities.
We recognize that, despite these precautions, some members of our school community experienced delays and difficulties today. While no plan is perfect, we are committed to continuously improving our processes. We appreciate the patience of our families, the dedication of our staff who worked diligently to minimize disruptions and maintain a safe learning environment, and feedback from the community.
– Andrew Goetz | Communications Director, South Bend Community School Corporation
They’re not playing around in South Bend.
Meanwhile, down here in Indianapolis the schools have been opened this school year under similar conditions with numerous bus incidents, including a car sliding into the back of a bus in a neighborhood on the south side, due to the bad road conditions.
Indiana Code § 20-30-2-2.7
In reality, this is a political issue due to the Indiana State Department of Education‘s attendance requirements that have gotten out of control over the past few decades. In turn, school administrators are extremely hesitant to use up their built-in snow days, and to institute virtual learning days due to Indiana Code § 20-30-2-2.7 Subsection (e) which says that a school is permitted to conduct no more than three (3) virtual student instructional days each school year.
In a place like Indianapolis, or anywhere in southern Indiana, this isn’t an issue on a routine basis. Some years it isn’t an issue at all. But in northern Indiana where you have “lake effect snow” every winter, this can be a massive problem, no matter how prepared they are.
That said, nobody has ever accused the INDOE of being logical, intelligent, wise, or fair.
So, as we’ve seen in Indianapolis, parents have to stand up and make the call to keep their children at home when the conditions deem it the wise thing to do.
The superintendents don’t answer to the parents or the school board. They ultimately answer to the Indiana State Department of Education and the politicians running the state of Indiana. They’re the ones controlling the property tax money that they’re taking from the taxpayers. And that’s the truth of it.
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