Private Schools Need Public-School Policies

By Stephen lone

Editor, Times-Dispatch: I feel it is unfair that public schools close after a winter storm while my private school stays open.

The only reason public schools get out is because the principals are afraid the buses are going to slide on a patch of black ice, the children are going to get hurt, and the parents are going to sue.

In my school, parents have to drop off their children unless a child has a car. My school does not have buses. After a snowstorm, I did not get out of school. My parents had to take me. This threatened my life and that of my stepmom.

Just because my school is private and others are not, I do not think it is right that my schools doesn’t get out as much as public schools do. I do understand one pays more at a private school because of smaller classes and more school time. Sometimes, we should not get out when public schools do, because they get out for things they should not. Public-school students get off on more holidays than I do.

But private schools do not think about how far some children have to drive and how some of the roads are really dangerous when ice is on the ground. If the roads aren’t safe, then why do public schools get out and my private school does not? Why isn’t the whole city closed?

MEMO: CORRESPONDENT OF THE DAY