I do have children. Two boys who are now men. I didn't treat them as if they were fragile china, and they survived. So, how long after you dropped them off did you hear the warning? So, in the fifteen minutes between the time that you dropped them off and the time they tried to enter the gym but were told to crouch in the hallway the school got the warning you didn't hear and did what they felt was best and put them in the safest area of the school (the hallway). Because of the tornado warnings, they were neither allowed to call on their cell phone nor escorted to the office to call Mommy and Daddy, who (knowing parents) would rush out in the storm to collect their kids. Putting parents and children in unnecessary danger. And you fault the school for that, right? Personally I would think your letter would have commended the school for keeping everyone safe. Once again, think about the effects. Children call their parents during a tornado warning. What would have happened? The parents (most of them anyway) would have immediately rushed out the door and to the school to pick up their kids. This would have, of course, caused a traffic jam at the school. Kids would have been outside waiting during the storm. And if the tornado had actually touched the ground and killed one or more of the kids and/or parents, we would then have a thread about how poorly the school had functioned in allowing the kids to call home and cause the death(s).
Clif, we're not going to agree, so I'm not going to argue with you. I feel like there was poor judgement on the school's behalf. At the VERY least, they should have released to the media that the dance was cancelled, at the very least. It wasn't your child, who somehow got seperated from her friends, and sat in the hallway in tears while teachers walked around spouting off about tornados touching down (which wasn't accurate anyway) all over the area. It wasn't your child who came running out of the building in tears just releaved to see her mother and baby sister were still alive. So let's just agree to disagree okay?
Once again, what would have been the result? Parents going out during the severe weather to collect their kids putting both in danger. If they both walked in together and immediately were told to crouch in the hallway, as you implied in the "Reader's Digest version", how could they have gotten separated? As far as the teachers "spouting off about tornados", this (if it did indeed happen) is about the only thing that I would fault them for. However I'm not so sure that that actually happened. It may have been a case of a student overhearing one teacher tell another and that student told another who told another until the story became that all the teachers were walking up and down the hallway screaming tornado at the tops of their lungs. Such is the power of rumours in middle school. As soon as you tell me what the school should have done that would not have put the children at more risk.
I'm highly irate at Cleveland Middle for the way things were handle. It was a nightmare. My daughter went w/ a friend so I did not drop them off. She too knew nothing at the time about the warnings. Anyhow, the kids told us, they weren't allowed to dance and spent it all crouching in the hallway. They were terrified. Things were handled very poorly. They were NOT allowed to use the cell phone and for some odd reasons, teachers kept threatening the kids about the football game. Don't exactly know what was said as it was confusing. My daughter & her friends said they didn't care b/c they weren't on the football team--LOL. Didn't understand why they'd do that kind of thing either. Don't know if it was taking away a game or what. Anyhow, they should have said the kids that have cell phones and want to call your parents, please feel free. AND, they can do multiple calls about a stupid PTA meeting but can't say come get your kids, there are tornado warnings now??? don't get it. In our area, we didn't have it that bad so there was nothing to think it was a drastic weather situation. Just a rain storm. No need for alarm. I just think things could have been done a little differently. I think the scare tatics were a bit unnecessary. PLEASE send it!!! I know I'm writing something and this will be part of it. However, I have to write to the DPI again on happenings at the school. I figure I'd might as well mention this too as there seem to be many, many unhappy parents. The schools are the safest place to be during tornados. But things still could have been done a little differently. If you knew it was getting cancelled, why not tell parents upon arrival instead of accepting the kids money? My daughter was wondering why she had to pay money and not get to go to the dance. I said well, they ahve to pay the DJ. Is that right, if the dance is cancelled? Do they still pay the DJ? Just curious as to how it works. All parents who were not happy, I suggest you write something too and that way, next time things will be handled differently. Take care, Stephanie--mom to 7
I agree a lot with Clif on this one... then again, if I had had the same experience as the parents involved I'd probably be po'd too... so far, my eldest is 8 and I my apron strings double stitched. :neutral:
The discussion is about Cleveland middle, correct? I spoke to some families over the weekend who had kids attending the dance on Friday at Clayton Middle school. They said a tornado actually touched down in the parking lot, went back up again, over the school then touched down on the other side. It literally, jumped over the school. One lady I talked to said her nephew was at that dance and his parents called the school while in transit. They also said that the phone just rang & rang. When they got there, they talked to another parent who said at the time, they were not answering the phone because they had taken cover with the students. I dont know about everyone else but, I was at home watching TV for a good 30 minutes before the alerts went out. We turned to channel 14 and the newscaster was telling us, if you can hear my voice, take cover now! We got into the hall closet and about five minutes later, you could hear the roar outside. I thought it happened pretty fast in my opinion. I'm just thankful no one got hurt and that I changed my work schedule from 7-4. If I had left work in RTP at 5, I would have been stuck in I-40 traffic watching those tornados. Never seen one before (lived in Raleigh all my life before moving to Clayton) and I dont think I personally would have made it home in one piece! Please tell me the rumors about Johnston County being "Tornado Alley" is just a rumor! lol
**An Update** I sent a very well worded email to Mrs. McLamb earlier and just as an FYI, she has responded. She answered all but one of my questions, and I've since emailed her again, asking her to clarify that for me. I will say this. I am not in agreement with everything she said, but I truly do appreciate the time she took to email me back. Communication is key when it comes to kids, and I can see that the line of communication is open. I would encourage any of you who were displeased with the way things were handled, to let Mrs. McLamb know. In her email to me, she said she welcomed and appreciated the feedback.
I can tell ya' the 'alerts' and 'warnings' were out starting at 3pm. I know this because I was on my couch, po'd at the fact that 'Ellen' was not being shown and the weather people were on TV 'storm tracking'. And WRAL wasn't showing the Guiding Light either due to Greg Fishel doing his thing. Both channels devoted the entire afternoon to storm and tornado coverage....as they always do. The warnings were there. Not to mention just looking out the window did it for me. I am sorry you guys had to worry about your offspring.
I've been here 43 years and I've only ever SEEN one. ...Well, actually it was two. It was the "twin tornado" thing ..... Two poked downward from the sky and as smooth and quickly as they came down (part way, no ground contact) they went back up. I think that's the only time in my life I've ever really come close to crapping my pants! It was an awesome site. ....
Okay, I'm reading some of these posts to a friend up in Michigan.. We have a question that really does not concern this post though. We both went to middle school today a long time ago and this kind of threw us for a loop. Can kids in middle school have a cell phone??? Are they allowed to bring them to school? Were they allowed at the dance or not? I remember in high school back when pagers were big, we were not allowed to have them at all on school grounds. Just curious. My daughter will be starting middle school in a couple of years and is already asking for a cell phone. (She's still young and really has no need for one).
Wow..I was listening to the radio from 4 until 5, and they never once said anything!!! I just drove through some light rain all the way home.
The kids are not allowed to have phones ON during school hours. But it's my understanding, that they can have them during after school activities. My daughter got seperated from her friends, because when I dropped them off, she got out of the car, ran up to a teacher, asked if she could keep her phone, then came back to let me know it was okay to have them, and ran back to catch up with her friends.
Ugh! I don't know... but mine is in 3rd. THIRD GRADE! During orientation one of his class mates was standing out side the class room door talking on her/a cell phone! The parents were inside with the teacher.... she was in the hallway... 8 years old... yapping it up on the phone ... :roll:
One of my very good friends teaches at CMS, her son attended when he was of age and now her daughter attends. Her side is that when she was driving her daughter to the dance and looked in her mirror she saw what she thought was a tornado. She had not been watching the news or listening to the radio because she had been helping her daughter get ready. Anyhow, she was almost at the school and, yes, she ran red traffic lights to get their. She felt the safest place to be was at the school. She and her daughter ran into the building and they already had a weather station on. Parents were still dropping off children so she and others gathered them up and put them in the hall. She was horrified that parents were still dropping kids off. She and others tried to calm the children but she did not use her telephone as lightning has been known to strike them. The safety of the children came first and then the adults trying to help. I knew for hours that this thing was coming our way but did not realize that a dance was occurring at CMS or I would have called her. She and others deserve a THANK YOU for what they did. She could have taken her daughter and gone home but nope...she stayed to help, as parents were still dropping off kids. Before judging maybe everyone needs to find out the whole story! She told me about this on Saturday after I called her about hearing about CMS. I am astonished that anyone found fault with what they did. They protected those kids and would have sacrificed life for them. Please remember that telephone calls would have been dangerous and they did the best that they could under the circumstances. I will tell each of you that this friend of mine thinks of others before she ever thinks of herself, that is why she was astonished that parents were still dropping kids off. As far as I know no adult was outside to talk to parents because the weather was so bad and the children inside needed each adult present to calm their nerves. Before judging please think things through first! Jen...I wish that you would not have pushed that send button. Maybe you will think about my Post and send another one thanking them. I would have been nervous about my child too but instead of emailing I would have picked up the telephone so that I could hear the other version. Grace
Mark this day down . . . Sept. 17, 2007 . . . I actually agree with Clif AND Ken on this one!!!! :lol:
Well, They probably were, but I was at work until 3:30 and if there are any warnings our office manager usually sends out an email to let folks know and I didn't get one before I left. I drove home, took forever and don't listen to the regular radio, so I didn't hear any warnings. I got home around 5:15 and started cooking dinner and listening to the radio (regular station) in the kitchen and didn't hear a warning until 6:00 when I turned the news on. My daughter (Clayton Middle School) and I decided before that because of the rain that she wasn't going to the dance at school, before I heard about the warnings. I can understand why parents are upset, if the warnings were out at 3:30 then why wasn't the dance cancelled??
And that was my point. The warnings WERE out. I missed ELLEN because of it and was not a happy camper (since I rarely get to see it). I cannot imagine why they didn't cancel it. I went to the Food Dawg at 4:30 and it was PITCH black outside and scary!
