March madness isn’t just a series of college basketball games leading up to the NCAA championship. I’m convinced, it’s now the weather pattern in the mid-Atlantic. If you live here, tried to fly in or out of here yesterday, or are following the news, you know that Mother Nature let us all know that winter is still in effect, dumping up to a foot of snow or more in Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania before heading south to Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled, road traffic has slowed or ground to a halt because of slick roadways, which have already killed four motorists, and districts have closed schools almost unilaterally across the region. It’s not the sort of thing you need in a bad economy.
New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine estimated the blizzard would cost his state between $2.5 to $7 million. Maryland has already spent $40 million on a harsher -than-usual winter and its anyone’s guess how much schools will have to absorb because of the weather.
Most school districts build in time for snow days in the school calendar, but this winter has been particularly bad and many schools have run through their scheduled make-up days. And with the academic year ending just three months from now for most schools, it will be difficult to find the extra time.
Complicating matters, school districts across the country because of state budget shortfalls have already asked employees to take paycuts and, in general, work harder for and with less. Lengthening the school day or school year to make-up for inclement weather, this late in the year, in this environment, will not be an easy feat.
Here’s hoping for us all, that this is the last storm of the season.
Naomi Dillon, Senior Editor
