How cold is too cold? Baltimore students sat in cold

Classes were not canceled because there are students that depend on school lunches to eat, and the schools may have been warmer than they would have been at home.

I live in Maryland, it was 10° yesterday and someone pulled the fire alarm at the local school. It's too cold for many things, but these buildings were not designed for this weather. School is indoors theoretically, the children are better off in school.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: generik

I agree with you because you are acclimated to a much much warmer climate, or maybe even someone from Florida complaining but this is Baltimore, Baltimore however gets cold in the winter.
Here are the average highs and lows:


Jan 23.5°F 41.2°F
Feb 26.1°F 44.8°F
Mar 33.6°F 53.9°F
Apr 42.0°F 64.5°F

ah but that is only a part of it. what are the temps in their homes and buildings they are normally in? how much time do these kids spend outside? the temp they spend most of their time in, dictates what they are acclimatized to. and in these modern times chances are they will not be acclimatized to the outside temperatures, due to rarely actually being outside. it's rather like my friend in Toronto was going on about last summer or the summer before. sharing articles about how the schools were dangerously hot[ with kids and teachers even passing out. a rather new issue, yet many of the schools mentioned as being the worst for this problem, were even over 100 years old. so why a problem now and not for 100 years? simple the over use of air conditioning everywhere, coupled to the lack of time outside means they are acclimatized to cooler temperatures, instead of summer temperatures. so being in a building with no aircon, is now too hot for them.

It's been -20° f up here for weeks now. My son gets bundled up and heads down the driveway to wait for the school bus every morning. I have solar powered motion activated flood lights about every 50 feet. I see him bounce around, throw snowballs, talk to the yard deer/bunnies, and just enjoy being a kid.

He hasn't complained once about being cold, and hasn't had any problems. It's just part of life here.

If we lived in Phoenix, he would probably drop dead at the thought of -35 windchills.

I guess it's relative to what your acclimated to.

a reply to: JAGStorm

In all fairness, the only mention of the 62° is in reference to one photo of a digital thermometer... and another photo at the same source (the Facebook page of a student) shows a thermometer at just above 40° F. For all we know, the 62° photo was taken at the end of the day while the 40° photo was taken in the morning.

Also, the article cites 60 schools as being affected, with no real effort to quantify the cold, or how temps varied at different schools (which one would expect). Other accounts mention "frigid" temps and even icicles. If that's true, then it sure wasn't 62°! It's very possible that 62° is the lowest it got at one school, but that it was much much lower at another school, and that most schools were somewhere in between. Perhaps more than possible... perhaps even probable. It just makes sense that a school with a working -- but inefficient -- heating system is going to have higher temps than a school whose boiler burst and has no functioning heating system at all.

Basically, the article is very poorly written, more rumor and gossip than facts.

while i agree 62 degrees is quite warm im gonna side with the kids on this one going off my own personal experiences in school. how much do u want to bet that the administration has nice heated and cooled offices? i know at my school we had a boiler system for the heating which had been broken for 18 years when i arrived. due to the condensation most classrooms left the door wide open all day in the winter and with no heating we were sitting in rooms that were in the 30's that rarely got warmer due to being a cinderblock building that froze at night. meanwhile in the 3 years i was attending high school i saw the administration buildings get updated with all new air conditioning and heating units twice, cause u know, hvac units go bad after a year in a half...

a reply to: TheScale

The more I read about the Baltimore schools the more I see this isn't really about cold weather at all, but more about the failing schools. Failing on every level, the buildings, the teachers, the test scores. etc. I guess that area brought in a casino with promises that money would go toward the schools but that obviously isn't happening. Most of the schools affected are in the poorer neighborhoods (not surprised) and that this has been going on for decades!

I also read that some schools are missing the top part of their windows. Even with the best heat, with missing windows it is pretty much pointless. I see a lot of parents complaining, but what are they doing to help? Where I live parents would be in the schools helping to wrap the windows, helping to bring in additional heat, getting on the school board, voting the losers out! People wonder why things don't change, it is because people do the same things and expect a different outcome. The first change needs to be the parents!

in Baltimore those kids have a much greater chance of being murdered than they do of dying from dangerously cold 62 degree weather.

The biggest joke in this story is this :

outdated heating systems, poor insulation, and aging pipes as a result of years of inadequate funding for maintenance and facilities improvements."

Only 4 other school districts in the entire country receive more federal and state funds than the Baltimore school district does,so why can`t they maintain their facilities like all the other school districts in the country do who get less money?
What are they doing with all that taxpayer money that they are getting if they aren`t using to maintain the schools?

originally posted by: bluechevytree
in Baltimore those kids have a much greater chance of being murdered than they do of dying from dangerously cold 62 degree weather.

The biggest joke in this story is this :

outdated heating systems, poor insulation, and aging pipes as a result of years of inadequate funding for maintenance and facilities improvements."

Only 4 other school districts in the entire country receive more federal and state funds than the Baltimore school district does,so why can`t they maintain their facilities like all the other school districts in the country do who get less money?
What are they doing with all that taxpayer money that they are getting if they aren`t using to maintain the schools?

So you actually care about the answer to this question or are just making a comment without thinking about what you are saying? I mean have you seen these schools? Been inside them? Seen how the students behave? The problems the faculty faces teaching the kids through red tape and misbehavior? Heck, teacher conditions in general? Things like that. There are many reasons why much money is spent on those schools.

The problem isn't money spent. It's the policies implemented to fix them are corrupt or not fully thought out for the children's benefit.

Schools are now closed tomorrow. There are no activities today.

originally posted by: Iamthatbish
Schools are now closed tomorrow. There are no activities today.

Where did you see that? I only see that Cecil County and Salisbury University.

WJZ school closings

originally posted by: Krazysh0t

originally posted by: Iamthatbish
Schools are now closed tomorrow. There are no activities today.

Where did you see that? I only see that Cecil County and Salisbury University.

WJZ school closings

www.acpsmd.org...

Maryland is larger than just Baltimore.

a reply to: Iamthatbish

Baltimore isn't in Cecil County, and Salisbury University isn't in Baltimore either.

All I asked was where you saw that information though; you didn't have to get snippy.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

I wasn't getting snippy. Look at a map of Maryland. I am very well aware that Baltimore has its own County. You're looking at a local site that doesn't include the ENTIRE state of Maryland.

a reply to: Iamthatbish

Do you live in Maryland? Are you familiar with WJZ? WJZ's school closings page reports across the State. For instance, Salisbury University is on the Eastern Shore. It's likely the report wasn't updated yet with your information, but WJZ is usually the go to source across the state to learn of closings.

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
a reply to: Iamthatbish

Do you live in Maryland? Are you familiar with WJZ? WJZ's school closing report across the State. For instance, Salisbury University is on the Eastern Shore. It's likely the report wasn't updated yet, but WJZ is usually to go to source across the state to learn of closings.

I live in Maryland. And where you looked skipped, Frederick Co., Washington Co., Allegany Co., and Garrett Co. So no, it did not include the entries state of Maryland.

Source : I live in Western MD

www.abc2news.com...

a reply to: Iamthatbish

Actually the site is still updating. Since I posted that link, they've added Harford Country with a 2 hour delay to their list. More will likely be added throughout the evening.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

I'm glad I was informed with enough time to properly make arrangements. My kids are older, but delays and closings have a domino effect on tardiness due to someone having to be with little ones that are off schedule.

I'm willing to be money everyone will be closed tomorrow. We just didn't all get the consideration of advanced notice.

a reply to: Iamthatbish

When I was going to school in 2003 (if you remember it was a record year for snow fall) I found out all of my school closings from watching WJZ the morning before school. It is currently 3:45 PM the day BEFORE the school day. I'm pretty confident that by tomorrow morning all the delays and closures will be on the site.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

It was announced to the kids in Allegany County during lunch, while the parents were receiving calls and emails.

I was just told there was no school today in Montgomery county either. That's a very localized source to the entire state. I'm glad that works for you. When I'm trying to match my kids schedule to friends and family that's not a good one for me.

a reply to: Iamthatbish

Hey. Do what works. I'm just not used to anyone using anything but WJZ. It's pretty much the source everyone I know uses when it comes to school closings. FYI, WJZ has updated with Prince George County and Anne Arundel County updates now.