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superintendent William Bloomer goofed this week when he sent over 1,000 Rappahannock students off to classes on Monday and then turned around and ordered them all back home less than an hour after they reached school.
According to Dr. Bloomer, he reached his decision to hold classes after the weather front expected to hit the county at 4 a.m. failed to appear. Most buses were in the middle of routes when the storm that dumped upwards of six inches of snow blew in at 8 a.m.
We’re not being Mondav momintr quarterbacks by criticizing the Superintendent. Even without the forecast of more snow, secondary roads in the county were “iffy” at best. Late Sunday night, pavement on Routes 729 and 642 was visible only in isolated patches between sheets of ice.
These are two of Rappahannock’s more travelled roads and serve as major thoroughfares. With 729 and 642 still icy on Sunday, it’s reasonable to assume that roads up into the hollows were in even worse shape.
Our neighbors in Culpeper announced that schools would be closed well before snow started falling on Monday. Fauquier’s administration decided to begin classes an hour late and then called school off completely when the storm began.
If Rappahannock’s Superintendent had opted to begin classes an hour or two hours late, he could have sent the buses back to the garages before kids were picked up and saved students from a potentially dangerous round trip ride.
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