Have you been left in a last minute bind too many times when it comes to finding child care when schools are closed?

The Detroit News is reporting on many parents who have turned to social media to express their concerns.  The last minute school closing are making them scramble for the care of their children because there places of work are not closing for the day.

I certainly understand both sides of the issue here.  School Superintendents are looking out for the safety of the children and their employees while parents many times just do not know what to do about childcare.  I certainly have been there many times.

One parent wrote yesterday morning to the Grosse Pointe Public School System Facebook page after it announced it was calling a snow day just hours before the start of school.

It hasn't even snowed yet. And last night you sent out messages saying to expect school to be open. As a working parent this is infuriating

Another one wrote:

Snowflake hype, will likely see them close for cold on Wednesday and reopen only when it hits 72 degrees

The Novi schools superintendent Steve Matthews informed the Detroit News that the safety of students and staff as well as the state requirement to have 180 days of instruction every year weigh heavily on his mind.

It really does come down to balancing the demands of school safety and kids getting to school in a timely manner…School is a positive place for kids to be. We want them there

Then we have the Grosse Pointe Public School System superintendent Gary Niehaus stating that”

The ultimate goal is to keep kids safe and keep them in school…There is no doubt that social media plays a piece in this," he said. "... I tend to like to wait until the next morning. Traditionally (the district) has stayed open under all conditions. When you are the one staying opening, there is a different pressure.

One parent wrote:

We received an email from the community outreach person at 9:45 p.m. saying unless weather changes, they will be open. That's great. However, don’t give us false hope

She stated this because school was cancelled the following morning.

What does the State of Michigan allow for the number of cancellation of school days?  Michigan allows 6 weather days for school to be closed within the 180 days of instruction. Apparently if a school is closed more days than allowed the school must seek a waiver from the state or be forced to add additional days of school later in the calendar.

My thought is why you would even ask for that waiver, I am under the impression that schools are there to educate our children and it appears that they need every one of those 180 days to do so.

Back to the frustration with parents on the number of school cancellation days due to weather and the last minute cancelling of school.

It sounds to me like the schools and parents are between a rock and a hard place and there really seems to be no easy way out.

Or do you believe that schools these days are canceling days much more frequent then we experienced when we were young?

It really does come down to the safety of the children but please do not shorten the school year.

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