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WTF (Where's The Fortitude)???

Growing up, my county was always the last to close schools due to the snow. Now, we close schools because it is cold. Many of the schools are newer, thus warmer.

Growing up under these conditions made me also get up and go to work when it is cold. What are we teaching kids?

We have teams from the northern panhandle already down here ready to compete at the national Guard duals while the hosting teams have been banned.

I crossed the Raleigh county/Fayette county line last night at 11:50pm. No problem with the road and the cold.

You took the words right outta my mouth. We are soft in every aspect these days. Yes I understand the liability of driving in the snow. But when I wrestled in the late 80s and early 90s we drove across the state in the snow. Now the one thing you said that holds true is the "what are we teaching" comment. Im a contractor and yesterday it was brutally cold outside but guess what???? I got up and went to work. I own the company so after I received 2 phone calls telling me by employees that it was too cold and if they could take off. When I showed up on the job in Capon WV I noticed that the crew that was there was all 42 and over. IT IS AN AGE THING. Too cold???? Are you kidding??? Its gonna get alot worse too. I had a guy last month (now fired) ask me if I wanted a pc of trim cut 45 7/16 thick or thin? Thick or thin? but thats another story.

The schools may be warm, but its getting everyone to and from school thats the problem. Raleigh county for example, is a pretty large county geographically. Although some students get driven to school, most ride busses. Some students get on their busses as early as 6:15 AM. Additionally there are lots (way too many) kids that don't have sufficient clothing, coats, gloves, etc, for really cold weather. So when the temperature with the windchill gets around zero, they usually cancel school. As a teacher and a coach I hate to see it happen, but I also realize that its necessary. I used to feel the same way as you till I started working in the school system.

My family was involved with the school transportation system for many years. Their all out, of that line, of work now. One of my parents retired from it about 5-6 years ago. The last 10 or so years, they worked, the cancellations and delays got much worse. Why? Because every time the weather became a little inclimate parents would call the board to complain or threaten a law suit. They would take no responsibility for making arrangements to ensure that their children had appropriate attire, had alternate transportation, a warm car to wait on the bus, etc.. Instead they would threaten to sue the board for any illness or injury that could be related to the outside conditions because school/event was not canceled. I’m no legal expert but I’d venture a guess that’s why not only the teams were not allowed to compete but also why they didn’t even want them name on the mats to be associated with a county school. Remember as well it takes money/time to fight these legal battles whether they have merit or not. Again I’m no expert but we all reside in a very litigious society. Whether that’s a good or bad situation is up for debate.

Scary thing is that there are a lot of kids in our state that the only meal they get and a warm building to stay in for 8 hours is a school. I agree as a society we are becoming soft... And the "cover your ass" has gotten out of hand.

I’m driving thru Erie, PA on our way to Buffalo, NY. I not going to mention how much snow, ice and high winds are in this area today. You do what you’ve got to do. Tomorrow I plan to be sitting in my regular seat inside the ROAC watching wrestlin’!

I can understand not letting the teams participate on Friday if schools is cancelled that day due to weather. The part that seems to be over the top is DEMANDING that the coach remove all mention of affiliation to county (taking up mats) and any participation by the coach in the hosting which the Superintendent has to know is used to raise funds.

My understanding is that most of the counties use biofuel in their buses because it is a cheaper product, but it gels at roughly 7 degrees F. Thus, on super cold mornings, its a no go.

I had a guy last month (now fired) ask me if I wanted a pc of trim cut 45 7/16 thick or thin? Thick or thin? but thats another story.

Lots of good comments here.

2015 Regional Tournament weekend was hit with snow. Our bus had been ordered for months and I received a call from my AD the Friday night prior to regional. He gave me the cell number of our bus driver. All our wrestlers were on time, on weight, and early. I called the bus driver. He refused to drive and assume responsibility for the bus and team. Chains were out of the question.
After a call to our AD he said "If you can get to Cabell Midland go ahead." Luckily we had great parents, principal, AD and everything worked out.

I agree, school attendance is a precursor for employee attendance.

Cummings wrote:

I had a guy last month (now fired) ask me if I wanted a pc of trim cut 45 7/16 thick or thin? Thick or thin? but thats another story.

Lots of good comments here.

2015 Regional Tournament weekend was hit with snow. Our bus had been ordered for months and I received a call from my AD the Friday night prior to regional. He gave me the cell number of our bus driver. All our wrestlers were on time, on weight, and early. I called the bus driver. He refused to drive and assume responsibility for the bus and team. Chains were out of the question.
After a call to our AD he said "If you can get to Cabell Midland go ahead." Luckily we had great parents, principal, AD and everything worked out.

I agree, school attendance is a precursor for employee attendance.

I like to think I know wrestling parents pretty well. I think in most cases if there is no bus, most parents are willing to transport kids to and from competition. Our bus broke down on the way to weigh in for the State tournament 3 years ago and there were two of us on our way to the kids to get them all there in time to weigh in. We didn't even think twice about it. Of course one of the coaches made the comment that it probably looked like the Indy 500 on I64, because the other fellow and myself are a little crazy, and to be quite honest we did exceed the speed limit just to make sure we could get them there on time.

Kanawha County has been in school all week. I think they are the only county that hasn't closed one day this week.

DWM wrote:The schools may be warm, but its getting everyone to and from school thats the problem. Raleigh county for example, is a pretty large county geographically. Although some students get driven to school, most ride busses. Some students get on their busses as early as 6:15 AM. Additionally there are lots (way too many) kids that don't have sufficient clothing, coats, gloves, etc, for really cold weather. So when the temperature with the windchill gets around zero, they usually cancel school. As a teacher and a coach I hate to see it happen, but I also realize that its necessary. I used to feel the same way as you till I started working in the school system.

Kanawha County is the largest county in the state and contains the most schools. They haven't closed one day this week.

uknowme wrote:

DWM wrote:The schools may be warm, but its getting everyone to and from school thats the problem. Raleigh county for example, is a pretty large county geographically. Although some students get driven to school, most ride busses. Some students get on their busses as early as 6:15 AM. Additionally there are lots (way too many) kids that don't have sufficient clothing, coats, gloves, etc, for really cold weather. So when the temperature with the windchill gets around zero, they usually cancel school. As a teacher and a coach I hate to see it happen, but I also realize that its necessary. I used to feel the same way as you till I started working in the school system.

Kanawha County is the largest county in the state and contains the most schools. They haven't closed one day this week.

Your point?

figure4match wrote:Scary thing is that there are a lot of kids in our state that the only meal they get and a warm building to stay in for 8 hours is a school. I agree as a society we are becoming soft... And the "cover your ass" has gotten out of hand.

I never thought of that one. What a shame. Our kids deserve more.

Geoswaff wrote:I can understand not letting the teams participate on Friday if schools is cancelled that day due to weather. The part that seems to be over the top is DEMANDING that the coach remove all mention of affiliation to county (taking up mats) and any participation by the coach in the hosting which the Superintendent has to know is used to raise funds.

I know you know allllll about this travesty, but I am posting for our other readers.

At the National Guard Duals, they had 10 mats set up. Upon my arrival, there were only nine mats set up and in use. There was a 10th set rolled up and sitting off to the side. The reason was that the mats had an Oak Hill insignia on them, thus they were not allowed to be used and/or displayed.

In summary, it was too cold for school. Fayette County schools were closed, the wrestlers banned from competition and the county schools were barred from being affiliated with the fundraising tournament they had planned and worked on. However, it wasn't too cold for all of the teams to show up. Some came from Ohio, Kentucky and as far north as Weirton.

Ironically, nine mats were used, thus the event took a little longer, which put all of us a little later getting out of there. It was COLD! We could have avoided a few minus degrees if the 10th mat was used.