The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon.
Today’s question:
QUESTION: If a school has no power, should classes automatically be canceled?
Talk about it.
37 comments
They are damed if they do and damed if they don’t.
As a homeowner I have always cleaned up dead foliage. But neighbors always made fun of me.
Yes classes should be cancelled. As a teacher, I can honestly say that the learning with no power will be very minimal. The student to staff ratio provides a safety issue as well. Imagine a school with no power. It’s not just about the fact that the lights are off. The copiers don’t work, the phones, the computers, the lunchroom can’t heat food. There are 750 students at my school. Imagine 750 students running around with all of this happening. Imagine a threat being posed on the school, and what that would look like with no power. It’s much safer for students and staff to stay home.
100% Agree. As a teacher myself, there is minimal actual instruction taking place under the circumstances. Not only is it not safe, but it’s also highly distracting. In the end, it’s not worth the risk of safety for students and teachers to continue school that day.
Yep.
YES
The schools absolutely should close!! It’s a safety issue. No phones means no way to get help if needed.
With that being said, parents do have the right to make a decision for what best suits their family. Keep your kids home if you are concerned.
You make a good point, however many teachers have an attendance component to their grades. Depending on the circumstances, keeping your kid at home could, unfortunately, make problems for them.
The phones in the class room don’t always work so maybe they should close down schools until they fix the phones.
Bob Foo, it’s illegal to score kids on attendance, especially egregious if the absence is excused. When was the last time you or a child of yours was in school? This is not a practice anymore.
Look at it from a SAFETY standpoint no Public Address system, no Fire Alarms, no WIFI and if cell towers are down no way to call for help.
To me school with no power is endangers students and staff.
Remember when phones were powered from the line and not the wall outlet?
No power means no life safety systems. Fire Alarm etc…
No public can be allowed to enter a space intended for assembly without them. It’s the law.
Exactly what I was thinking
Yes!
One can teach without electricity, though it can be a challenge. However, one cannot teach without light. Northgate is an example of a dangerous environment without light. Other considerations would be safety of students in the classroom or between classes. Are fire alarms, PA systems, safety equiptment functioning? Does the school have stairwells that become dangerous when darkened? These must be considered. Regardless of being kept open or closed, a portion of the community will be upset. Years ago we lost power over parts of the district because of wind fallen trees. School was cancelled too late to notice parents. Phones were not plentiful (yes, there was a time that we depended on land lines) and staff stayed with students until every one was icked up. My own daughter was at a different school and I could not check on her status until my students were assured safety.
They should have a generator for emergency and communications systems. And then stay open unless there is a special reason to close.
My issue would be the trade off between power and safety, if there was an earthquake, or a fire, and the students were sitting there in the dark and needed to get out, could they? I also get that many of the schools in question were caught flat footed and parents and kids were heading in before they could cancel, and are doing their best.
Schools should automatically close when the air quality is like it is today. DVC is open today & I refuse to go to class because of last year.
Last year the air quality was in the purple “Very Unhealthy” range and I had to go to class for 2 hours. When I got home, I was sick with flu-like symptoms for 3 days & couldn’t do any homework.
I’m staying home this time.
NGHS is now closed, as is the library on Oak Grove.
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Oh you mean go outside with smoky/poor air quality and make all the kids sick…yeah…brilliant one you are.
You realize that this particular conversation relates to the current situation of a school being without power BECAUSE OF LOCAL FIRES THAT CAUSE POOR AIR QUALITY, right? Thank god you’re not a teacher, because you’d be leading these poor kids around outside “teaching” them (nothing) while their lungs fill with toxic air. Super helpful and appropriate suggestion, you’re a valuable commenter.
My daughter goes to the Contra Costa School of Performing Arts – Tuition Free Charter school. We were contacted and told there would still be school – even if the power was out. It would be a short schedule form 8am – 12Pm.
They are so dependent on state funds, they would continue with classes regardless of what you had to go through to get your kid to school….in the dark morning with no street lights & traffic signals.
The COCOSPA building was formerly a science lab. Many of the classrooms have no windows and are very dark without power. I don’t see how they can hold classes without power.
When the dinosaurs roamed around and I was in school, the only thing that was inconvenient about losing power was if it was during an audio or AV presentation. There was never any air conditioning, one wall of each classroom was a bank of windows so you could usually see fine, and there was auxiliary lighting in dark rooms, corridors, and auditoriums. As someone who developed asthma as an adult due to environmental factors and too much smoke being a big contributor, I wouldn’t send the kids out in these conditions.
ABSOLUTELY
They are being taught 19th century skills so candle light should be enough.
I think it’s safe to assume you don’t have kids in high school, because there really have been a lot of changes in the last 20 years.
I graduated high school over 10 years ago, and even then a significant amount of time was spend learning how to use computers to accomplish a lot of different tasks and research…
@Bob Foo…Tell me Bob, do the desks in schools still have inkwells? I loved dipping girls ponytails in them, do kids still learn to sqaredance in school?
As a parent, I would prefer if the schools were closed when the power is off and when the air quality is so poor. Power off means means safety and security are at risk. Also, let’s not forget the many health issues (asthma, etc…). Furthermore, most school these days have website where homeworks are listed. So, there is no reason why kids could not be out of school a day or two due to lack of power or poor air quality.
Another thought—without power access to emergency info for each student is not accessible. Staff would have to use personal phones to try and reach police or fire. Makes no sense they tried to keep that school open with no power. Classrooms are so driven by technology these days—attendance, grading, video and interactive modules. It’s not 1954 anymore!
Great point.
Let’s be real here. If high schools aren’t focusing on teaching kids computer skills, there no way they’ll be competitive in the job market.
I know that a lot of the Claycord readership is elderly or at least middle aged, but the fact is that if someone entering the job market isn’t comfortable with computers or technology, they’re going to be at a severe disadvantage. So it’s important that high school curriculum focuses on teaching students on using computers to complete work tasks.
Have to agree with the majority. Given theIr lack of ingenuity…heck, even commonsense…it would be exceedingly dangerous and probably equate to child-endangerment to allow any child to be watched by a typical modern school teacher without a host of support systems in place.
Wow. That’s incredibly insulting. Let’s talk about Northgate, shall we? Many of these classes do not have windows for light, going outside was not an option because of air quality which basically translates to sitting in the dark. In your vast and infinite wisdom, what is a modern school teacher to do? The kids aren’t even able to read! Do you want them to light candles and read by candlelight? Teachers are NOT babysitters, we aren’t there to hold the kids in our room in the dark with no prospects for actual education. Gitittogether, let’s hear your solution to this. I’m dying to know how someone who thinks teachers lack ingenuity and would basically be subjecting children to abuse if they didn’t have their trusty computers thinks this could be solved.
Back in the late 1940s when we moved to the area from Los Angeles, this is what it looked and smelled like on winter days. The area was rural and most everybody heated their homes with fireplaces. We trudged a mile to the bus stop on school days in it for years. At that time, and well into the 1960s it was legal to burn yard waste in a barrel in the back yard which also contributed to the smokey air. At that time, it was a two mile walk to Clayton Valley High School for us.
Then in the 1950s, there were the peat bog fires in the Delta that burned for weeks. Air was nasty, but I don’t remember classes being cancelled because of it. Wonder if there are peat bogs on Grizzly Island since the smoke from it seems to have such a peculiar smell.
Next time a local district builds a school, maybe they will realize the downsides that come with windowless brutalist concrete architecture. That is, the extra downsides, besides the heinous ugliness and the appearance of being a prison…
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