Go Back to Sleep.... Roads Icy

Montclair closed. just saw on the news.

I was just notified by House McCarthy at Glenfield that Montclair Schools are closed today.

I was just notified by House McCarthy at Glenfield that Montclair Schools are closed today.

Montclair Schools are closed.

Montclair Schools are closed.

I got my call from Montclair at 5:20 am

How are you supposed to find out about GR schools if you don't get email alerts???? Besides Baristanet, I mean. TV stations are not reporting it because they have no info from the school system.

Weak Sauce

By the way, Montclair Schools, you need to wake your webmaster up a little earlier on snow days and change your phone recording. Nobody cares about last night's PTSO meeting being cancelled at 5:30 am when the ice is falling.

To anyone who has ever tried to find most ANYTHING on the BOE's website, the fact that this information is on the web site AT ALL is a true miracle!

Montclair State is on a delayed opening - offices opening 9:30, classes begin 11:30

Good point, Hiding. But in the past couple years they have been posting on the website in a timely manner. Just wondering what happened to that....along with what happened to my taxes.

More timely, yes, but did you ever try and FIND anything? Say you want to know what time a meeting is. Well there's the BOE calendar, and the calendar for the individual schools, and the calendar for the individual PTSO's and the reminders for the PTSO's and all of them display different information and many times no information about major meeting/events.

Given the $$$ we spend on technology at the BOE, not to mention consultants, one would think we'd get a LOT better functionality.

One would think that, yes.

Last year I listened to a presentation on the Montclair school's technology capability. It went on for hours and hours and even I, somewhat of a 'geek,' was falling asleep.

There is sooooo much capability.

BUT: Actually putting it into the hands of the users, training the teachers, making it available to the parents, etc. now THAT'S another matter!

Spending all of your money buying technology, and practically none on in-service training and workshops for the teachers isn't smart.

The key is getting this stuff into the hands of people who can use it. It shouldn't be just for show!

"Nobody cares about last night's PTSO meeting being cancelled at 5:30 am when the ice is falling."

I don't get all this mock outrage. Who (besides Barista) needs to know the schools are closed at 5:30? Not the parents.

I suspect the Montclair BOE doesn't make its plans (or wake its webmaster) according to the needs of Debra Galant. (Astonishing though that may seem)

some of us have to get up at 5am in order to get the likely delayed njtransit train to nyc to earn the money to pay the taxes that pay the webmaster.

some of us have kids in the high school with zero period classes which mean the kids start their day early too.

i'm glad that hiding 8:24 has a more leisurely lifestyle.

Back in the old days (when we had to walk 6 miles through the snow and ice -- dodging saber-toothed tigers -- to get to school) they would set off the volunteer fire horns at 06:30 if school was going to be closed. The sound of the horns was often drowned out by the sound of cheering. High-tech, schmigh-tech -- just get the message out.

(As I am writing this, several parents who obviously haven't gotten the message that Bloomfield schools are closed, have zoomed down my street to drop off their kids. Or maybe they did get the message; you should have seen them high-tailing it outta here...)

I'm with you, Conan. I remember waiting for that fire horn to go off. I was in Cedar Grove, they did it at 7 a.m. there. All these phone chains and whatnot are ridiculous; just makes more work for everyone. You could hear the fire horn all over town! People just make things too complicated these days. (Oh no, I'm starting to sound just like my parents...and grandparents. Scary).

MKA announced its closing last night. Way to go. Web site was updated with the closing info by 9:45 pm. Go private sector.

Bloomfield College cancled classes last night due to the storm - but students didn't get any notice until they went to class and found notes written on blackboards!

I hope they figure out a way to let us know today - before everyone drives to the campus.

"some of us have to get up at 5am in order to get the likely delayed njtransit train to nyc to earn the money to pay the taxes that pay the webmaster."

And what do you do with your children while you are on the 5am bus?

It will be a fun filled day full of pond hockey or "shimmey" as our neighbors up north like to call it. Finally a day off!

Curmudgeon,

I agree. Communications and planning skills are sadly lacking in this town. From the Mayor to the Township Manager to the BOE all suffer from the same dificiencies.

Who will train the trainers?

to hiding 9:11 - more than one adult lives in my household - nevertheless, a no-school day requires discussion and planning around coverage -- the adult who typically gets the kids off to school also has to work. glad your lifestyle is so simple.

sometimes simple is a very good thing. i am sorry that you are so stressed.(and i am not trying to be snarky)

grumpy, so the lack of a 5:30am discussion meant what exactly? Maybe you're grupmy because you expect the world (and the BOE) to cater to you.

i don't expect the boe to cater -- the question on the table was why parents want to know at 5 am whether school is on --
i'm confident i'm not the only parent with the same issues when school schedule changes. your questions suggest that you live a very different lifestyle.

and i'm not arguing against simple, it's just not practical for everyone all the time. the web is a great communication tool, and the boe could make life simpler for all of us by posting sooner.

and i'm not grumpy in life, just get grumpy about some of these postings.

My main corp.client is in Morris Cty....Closed!! Whoopee!! No driving over those slick mountains!

Hiding 8:24.

Are you kidding? The Montclair Superintendent's entire job at 5:30 this morning was to get the word out that schools would be closed. The first thing he should have done was put it on his web site. The second was to change the schools' outgoing phone message. Then he could start the phone chains, but anybody waiting for their call would know it if they looked or called.

The technology to communicate important information to thousands of people at once is available and easy to use. Any public entity that doesn't use this resource needs to go back to school.

and when DID the web announcement appear Debra?

Them's harsh words, Deb.

perhaps if our intrepid citizen "journalist" were well informed she might know the following:

"To find out whether schools will be closed or have a delayed opening:

Check this website
Listen for five five-second blasts of Civil Defense sirens at 6:30 A.M. and again at 7:00 A.M.
Call your school office after 7:00 AM to receive a message informing you whether or not schools are closed or operating on a delayed opening schedule
Listen to WOR 710 AM and WINS 1010 AM from 6 AM
If there is a PTA-sponsored telephone chain for your school and you are part of it, you will receive a phone call."

http://www.montclair.k12.nj.us/parents/snow.cfm

So, again, why the outrage at no 5:30 am announcement when they don't promise such?

Though, Debra may lobby for an additional notification schedule:

"Debra Galant will be notified by 5:30am"

Hiding 10:34,

You are just a jerk.

That they don't *promise* it is irrelevant. Why should someone have to turn on the radio and listen through 18,000 other school closings when there is one simple way to inform the whole district? If the decision is made at 5:30 (and apparently it was), then why should someone have to wait for a civil defense blast an hour later? I live two blocks from Montclair and didn't hear any civil defense blast at 6:30 or 7. Bloomfield and Glen Ridge get it. Why not Montclair?

I don't know when the website was updated, because once I had word (through our comments, and Barista Annette) that the schools were closed, I went back to sleep.

Baristanet was also better at informing the public about emergency conditions during the Church St. fire this summer than was the Montclair website. We confirmed that the library was a cooling center and told our readers, even when the library's outgoing phone message said it was closed.

We provide a continuous 24 hour public service informing the community of vital information and you don't pay one cent for this. But you do pay taxes if you live in Montclair.

How dare you mock my inconvenience when I wake up at 5 in the morning and try to spread the word as efficiently as possible?

Dear Hiding:

Wrong-o Bucko!

No Civil Defense sirens went off, the school had no message at 6:30 AM (period 0 starts at the high school at 7:10AM), and the suggestion to listen to the radio is absurd (who has the time to listen to 20 minutes of radio to see if your school is announced).

When I checked the Montclair BOE website around 6:00 a.m. there was a perhaps-too-subtle crawl message that schools were closed.

"I don't know when the website was updated,"

And yet...yet you are critical!

"How dare you mock my inconvenience when I wake up at 5 in the morning and try to spread the word as efficiently as possible?"

I am mocking your ginned-up outrage at YOUR inconvenience. If the school system says they phone will be updated at 7pm well, then I suppose "outrage" isn't due until some time after 7, right?

(though ginned-up outrage at all of life's minor "injustices" seems to be the barista raison d'etre)

"You are just a jerk."

Well, since the gloves are off, you appear to be a bitchy blogger full to the brim with her own self importance.

ps

and how ironic that someone who spends a considerable amount of time mocking should be so irked when she is mocked.

Well, tough guy,

At least I mock in my own name. While you are still Hiding.

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Don't feed the troll, Debbie.

Sounds like someone has the grouchies. Nap time!

I received a 5:45 call from one of the parents at the Montclair Pre-K telling us that school was cancelled. I am very grateful to the parent who volunteered to make a bunch of calls before dawn, buy n an age where most people have email, shouldn't we be able to opt for an email notice rather than an early morning call? That would really reduce the hassle of the calling process. They already use email lists to communicate with parents.

Maolis Maven:

If you call the main school number in glen ridge they always have a recording if the schools are closed or delayed. I called about 6:00 and it was there today

My God! What about the children? Have we all forgotten about the children?!?

You people are savages. Child eating savages every last one.

Oh! The children!

My children are grown, but I remember the "horn" - it worked. I still pay high property taxes with the expectation that the Montclair Bd of Ed, is preparing today's children for life and work the 21st century. It seems reasonable to expect that same system to equip the Superintendent and other staff with the simple technology necessary to communicate effectively and directly with parents and other local institutions (police, fire, buses) about snow day closing or other critical or emergency school decisions.

If they cannot, they should farm it out to a communications company that will hire a customer service tech in India, who has been trained for life in the 21st century, to do it for them.

You people are terrible, awful!

Sweet Jesus what about the children!?!

My God in heaven the children! Oh!

The snow chain call came between 5-5:30; the phone blast from MHS came after 5:30; the announcement by Dr. Patterson on the BOE voice mail same time; seen on Ch. 2,4,7, & NJN around same time. If you are checking local media and start seeing surrounding Districts closing or delaying before Montclair, prepare yourself. And I did not hear the horn/siren blast.

No info here
http://www.montclairtimes.com/

"Listen to WOR 710 AM and WINS 1010 AM from 6 AM"--

FYI, I listened to 1010 WINS from 8:30 to 10:30 am & heard no mention of Montclair school closings. They might have mentioned it while I was in the shower, of course, but this obviously wasn't a good source of information.

You did see all the white stuff on the ground right?

"My children are grown, but I remember the "horn" - it worked. I still pay high property taxes with the expectation that the Montclair Bd of Ed, is preparing today's children for life and work the 21st century. It seems reasonable to expect that same system to equip the Superintendent and other staff with the simple technology necessary to communicate effectively and directly with parents and other local institutions (police, fire, buses) about snow day closing or other critical or emergency school decisions."

Damn, they don't use the horn anymore. There's another example of old school technology that you can't replace.

I swear I heard a 2 blast horn or something at 5:30 'ish. Was I hallucinating?

yeah, you were hallucinatin'. Now pass the pipe. It's puf, puf, give....

"We provide a continuous 24 hour public service informing the community of vital information "

Looks like someone's been drinking too much of their own kool aid.

Last I saw this was a commercial for-profit website. You even offer consulting services.

I am sure you want to have this info so folks will come here first. If you're lucky they'll then browse other articles. Getting and retaining eyeballs is what drives revenue for websites.

It's all about the dead presidents

Tiny, illegible posting on our school's PTA site...

Nothing on any radio or TV station...

A hard-to-read banner in tiny letters on Montclair BOE site...

No horn...(We got a hand-out in September going into great detail about what the siren would sound like...)

NO SNOW CHAIN PHONE CALL OR EMAIL!

No postings on ANY tv or radio web site that I could find (tried WOR, WCBS, 1010, etc.)

Does anyone out there know anything about delayed opening tomorrow????? Other districts in the state have already posted these...

Hey,go ask alice, it is very clear on the WOR web site. www.wor710.com. I much prefer getting up at my normal time and checking the web site instead of getting a phone call at 5 am. School messages were also working today by 6:30 am.

"Does anyone out there know anything about delayed opening tomorrow????? Other districts in the state have already posted these..."

They may be waiting to see how the roads are tomorrow. The town has plenty of time to clear them.

We will never be told the night before about school closings. Alvarez is always in a bind. If he calls it too early and calls it wrong he'll have hundreds of parents complaining to him here, through phone calls, at his office, etc. So parents you did it to yourselves by always having to comment on everything not just the important things. No I am not a teach, I am just a parent with a little more common sense than most of you.