Oh okay, that makes sense. I know when I was in middle school, we had one pay phone that never worked. If you had after school activities, it was next to impossible to contact your parents to come pick you up. I know I personally would feel safer if my daughter had one on her in case of an emergency but to know the school rules. As far as Friday was concerned, I can see why the students were not allowed to call. I text messaged two friends from my closet and neither one went through. Again, just glad everyone was safe!
I'm assuming you're talking about Clayton Middle, Jen is talking about Cleveland Middle. With both, I still think if warnings were out at early as 3:30, like some have said, then the dance should have been cancelled and we should have received automated calls from the schools, or at the very least the school entrances could have been blocked off. This falls on the administration end, not the teachers. I'm sure the teachers did the best they could with the circumstances.
That's where me and mine were, in the closet. :roll: Any time there a big storm passes I spend a good deal of time afterwards picking feathers out of my hair from my Big Baby Chicken suit.
1) please understand the difference between a watch and a warning. a watch, which is what was issued early, does not mean a tornado has been identified by radar or spotter. it means that conditions are favorable for them to occur. a warning means that one has been either identified by radar, or actually spotted by a person on the ground. 2) the only warnings that were out as early as 3:30 would have been severe thunderstorm warnings. we have those all the time, and while those storms can cause damage, they are not tornado warnings. there very well may have been a tornado watch in effect at that time. programming is not required to be broken into for a severe thunderstorm warning unless it occurs in an area that is also under a tornado watch. most radio stations will, however, mention it without airing the actual eas warning. tv stations usually will run a crawl with severe thunderstorm warning info, but they are not required to do so. 3) there weren't tornado warnings out at 3:30. the harnett county one initiated in the 5 o clock hour, and the one specifically for johnston county didnt hit until around 6. 4) i don't know about cleveland middle school, but a tornado most certainly did touch down near clayton middle school. i saw it. twice. on 42 between guy rd. and amelia church. about 6:15.... 5) when a tornado warning is issued, the first thing you should do is run outdoors, get in your car, and then get your kids to run outdoors and get in the car with you. DUH< NO. indoors. interior room. never try to outrun a tornado with your car. if sufficient shelter is not available, get out of your vehicle and lay flat in the nearest ditch or culvert....all this verbage is actually broadcast with each tornado warning, and this is not the first time any of us has heard it....
*****Update***** I've exchanged 3 emails with Principal McLamb. She's answered each and every question I had, been candid in her response, and made me feel like it was appropriate and appreciated that I decided to contact her. Just FYI, in case anyone else was interested.
Thanks for the update. I hope it made you feel better. The school I was talking about was Clayton Middle. Grace
Thanks so much. I will pass that on. I did not realize that both middle schools were having dances. I will state that a lot of people do not listen to the radio or television so they may not have known that this one could have been severe. As a person who listens to the news constantly I am aware of these things. All stations kept changing the time on when this would expire and it became confusing. When CHS was having a recent Open House my daughter and I drove to 70 and by the time we arrived items were flying across 70. I made the decision to turn around and go home. Because of no lighting we called people and told them what was happening and suggested that they did not go. Jen...I am so glad all worked out. Grace
the tv and radio stations have nothing to do with changing the times of the warnings. that's the national weather service. they weren't so much changed as they were extended...
I am very grateful for all of the staff and volunteers that were at the school during the dance at Cleveland Middle School Friday night. There were a lot of very scared children (and adults) at that school that evening! I have so much more to say... but it's not worth it because I'll just get jumped on by those who love to find something negative with everything, no matter how hard people try or do the best they can in emergency situations.
I'm reminded of the incident in a Florida school recently, where there were severe thunderstorms. The thunderstorms began around the time that parents pick up their kids after school. Parents who were parked in the car pool lane and waiting for their kids were not allowed to walk in the door, get their child, and escort them out. Seriously. The school said it was "too dangerous" with all the lightening. The kids were forced to stay inside for a total of 4 hours. The parents were refused the right to come in the door and get their children for 4 hours. That is ludicrous. Schools and school systems have become too big for their britches. Someone, somewhere, sold those that run the school systems a bill of goods and told them that they have absolute decision-making power over our children - even when we are right there. While I understand that they have their procedures for incidences such as this, that are designed to protect the children in their charge while on school property, the fact is that NOTHING....NOTHING...gives a school the right to refuse parents access to their children in any way shape or form, at any time during the day - school hours or not. My daughter was sick to her stomach one day week before last, and I made her stay home. While I was at work, she called and said she was feeling a little better and wanted to go to school so she didn't have to miss her chemistry test. I told her okay. Because roll is taken in each class and reported by class, she didn't check in with attendance, because she got there just in time for her 3rd period class, and was present for roll call for that class and thus wouldn't need an attendance note to get into class the way you do if you are late for a class. The next day, I sent her with a note excusing her absence for the first 2 periods, and explaining her illness. The witch at the attendance office (who has more attitude than any person working with parents should have) refused the note and refused to mark her first 2 periods as excused. I called the woman myself and she got so rude and disrespectful that I was stunned. She essentially said it was her decision as to who got excused and who didn't, and because my daughter didn't check in with her before going to her class, she wasn't going to accept my note and was going to mark her with an unexcused absence for the whole day. I asked her didn't the 3rd & 4th period teacher's roll show my daughter attending. She said yes but it didn't matter, because SHE was the decision maker on matters of attendance and that her decision over-rode any presence a teacher marks down. I called the principal 3 times trying to talk to her about it, and have yet to get a call-back. So on Friday, I sent a letter to the principal, certified mail, return receipt. I copied the superintendent. We'll see what comes out of it. This attendance woman is the one that I had one issue with already last year. To make a long story short, I stood in line at her "attendance window" and watched 3 girls - right in front of this woman - write their own notes and forge their parent's signature. She then took the notes no questions asked. When I, a parent, then tried to sign my daughter in late after an early doctor's appointment, she tried to refuse it saying I had to have a doctor's excuse. I asked the woman why she was willing to accept the notes the 3 girls in front of us had just written and forged right under her nose, yet she wouldn't accept the face-to-face presence of a parent and she got a real attitude. It was my feeling that the problem was that my daughter and I had the wrong skin color. I had to talk to the principal about that. Sadly, the principal seemed neither surprised nor concerned that this woman allowed 3 students to forge their parent's signature. Sorry to get off on a tangent, but some of these people working in our schools are on a power-trip and I, for one, am tired of it.
Yes, I know what you are saying. All I was saying was that the weather service kept moving the times because they were not getting a clear picture either. At first the National Weather Service stated that our county would expire around 6:00 pm and then it started changing quickly. Even if a parent saw the initial one it could be misleading. It was a hard storm to follow. My friend and others did a great job and deserve a pat on the back. Once again, she was at Clayton Middle School. Grace
Knowing you were upset and terriffied... I thought I'd tell you that CMS did notify WRAL (others I'm sure) and they did announce it on TV. They said the kids were fine, but were not allowed to use their cell phones to call parents. I do think if the administration had told the kids you can make 1 call to your parents that things would have been better. All the more reason I'm happy that my kids have finsihed public school!
I watched WRAL from the time I dropped off MM until I left to go get her at 8:30, then I listened on 101.5 to the newscast. I never heard it. A friend of mine said that right before they switched back to regular programming, at 8:50, she heard it announced. And dca, I hope that wasn't directed towards me. I happen to know that my kid was one of the scared ones, crying in the hallways, and that she still wasn't allowed to call me. I handled the situation with couth and respect for the administration, which is more than I can say for some other parents who were just as upset as I was. And now, I am officially done with this topic.
dance I feel confident in saying that Cleveland Middle administration did what they felt was in the best interest of the children. They were entrusted with the safety of these children which is a responsibility that they took seriously. I would rather they err on the side of caution than to have 200-300 injured kids. No one knows when or where a tornado will touch down. When there is a WARNING the only thing that can be done is to brace for the worst and hope for the best! If they had not done what they did then someone would be on here complaining that they did not take it seriously enough. HONESTLY, people cannot be made happy! Everyone needs something to complain about!
Armchair quarterbacking will always make the correct call. As for real time quarterbacking I am sure that the staff and volunteers did what they thought was in the best interest of the students at the time of the storms. Not everyone will agree 100% and not expected too but if you would like to volunteer so you can make a differrence please feel free too. I am sure that the school system can always use more volunteers. By the way, how many children were hurt? Maybe the kids didn't have a good time but could you imagine the headlines if they were allowed to dance and a tornado hit and hurt these kids then everyone would be wanting the school system's head on a platter. Lets be thankful that no one was hurt. Maybe they will make the dance up at a later date. You know what, I actually used to: ride in cars standing up because they didn't have seat belts ride is cars that didn't have air bags crouch in hallways during tornadoes ride a bike without a helmet didn't go to the doctor everytime I sneezed I turned out ok as most of you did. Don't lose sight of your childhood and how much fun you had with less. By the way I have 3 kids and they are all safe and sound and good kids. Now that I am off of my soapbox see you later.
