School Tuesday? TBA.

Superintendent Dr. Alonso sent all teachers a nice Valentine's Letter today, telling us to help start involving ourselves in getting sidewalks cleared so kids can walk to school on Tuesday. He suggested looking at our neighborhood school, try seeing it from the perspective of a child, and determine whether a child would have to walk in the road or not - then to get neighbors, community associations, and ourselves involved in clearing them.

He really wants the kids to be able to attend school on Tuesday, and I share with him this desire. The stories on the news feature a bunch of hard-working people trying to get the schools ready.

I just don't know, though. It's unbelievable to me how many roads appear to be untouched, how many sidewalks are full of snow, how many busstops are covered, how many roads are still one lane. At the same time, I'm amazed by how quickly the city has cleaned up. And I know this sounds paradoxical, but it's true - the cleanup was such a big job that a lot of progress can be made and still plenty needs to be done.

The weird storm that may be coming tomorrow night will determine whether we have school. 3 inches, 6 inches, 1 inch and a bunch of ice? Doesn't seem promising.

I remember back in 2003. A colleague told me today that we were out 2.5 weeks then. I don't quite remember it being that extreme, but I remember being out for a long time.

My prediction is still a better than even shot of a snow day on Tuesday, plus probably delay on Wednesday. It's not what I want, though - I want to get back to school. (In fact, I wish Dr. Alonso could call a Teachers-Only Day on Tuesday if it's determined to be unsafe for the kids. It will be nice to get back into the classroom and start getting materials ready that I can't at home.)