By Amanda Young ’11, Co-Editor-in-Chief

152 Upper School students signed out of school early on Tuesday Jan. 11 citing the snow as their excuse. There are 250 students in the student body.

Despite not calling a snow day or 2-hour-delay, Head of School Dr. Robert Macrae wrote in an email to parents, “I want you to know that if you are concerned about the safety of your drive, you are welcome to pick your child up at any time or send your high school driver home.” The email was sent at 8:29 a.m.—right after the start of the school day.

By break in the Upper School, numerous students heard from their parents about the email and news spread quickly. An inaccurate rumor spread around school: Dr. Macrae said you could leave if you wanted. Students, who had been expecting a snow day and were eager to leave, told “parents that ‘school was closing early’ and ‘everyone is leaving’,” as Dr. Macrae explained in an email to parents on Jan. 19.

In his Jan. 19 email, Dr. Macrae apologized for his Jan. 11 email. “Some students used the opportunity to head out during the worst part of the storm,” he wrote. “While I admire their youthful exuberance, in hindsight, not only would it have been safer for the students to stay put, it would have also prevented our classrooms from being depleted and disrupted.”

I agree with Dr. Macrae’s hindsight as displayed through his Jan. 19 email. If students or parents felt driving to school was unsafe on Jan. 19, they didn’t need approval from Dr. Macrae. In fact, the email was sent after the start of the school day so students who lived in South Lebanon or Kentucky or some other far off place with legitimate reason to be concerned by the weather had

already decided at least an hour earlier not to make the commute to school. And if their parents wanted them to leave once they arrive—they weren’t waiting for Dr. Macrae to tell them to.

Dr. Macrae’s email to parents only gave students the enticement to leave school. If given essentially the option to go home or stay at school, the vast majority of students will choose the former. With the majority of the student body absent, teachers canceled their lesson plans for the day and turned to study halls or optional activities by D and E bell after lunch. Thus, students who had loyally stayed at school or couldn’t get a ride home were wasting their time attending empty classes.

I believe Dr. Macrae should have kept school on, called a snow day, or instigated delay. I understand the snow didn’t fall until late in the morning and the majority of local schools were in session so keeping school on without such an email to the parents was the most viable option. Regardless, Dr. Macrae should have made a decision and stuck with it.

Dr. Macrae kept the Jan. 11 issues in mind when he straightforwardly declared a snow day on Thursday Jan. 20 and a 2-hour-delay on Friday Jan. 21.

On Jan. 21, only 15 students were absent due to the weather. Because Dr. Macrae made a clear cut decision on the weather, significantly more students attended school. In the future, Dr. Macrae shouldn’t send out emails that imply students can leave if they “need” to. Any parents that feel doing so is necessary aren’t looking for Dr. Macrae to agree with them and students are eager to jump at opportunities for a snow day.

Photo courtesy of realsociology.edublogs.org