LCPS Gambles with Student Safety: Defying Severe Storm Warnings While Neighbors Close Schools

Another day, another episode of chaos dressed up and promoted as exceptionalism by Loudoun County Public Schools.

Regional Weather Warnings and Neighboring Districts’ Responses

Over the past weekend, the National Weather Service predicted a level 4-5 severe weather emergency for our region on Monday, March 16, with tornadoes and winds in excess of 70 miles per hour.

In response, several Northern Virginia counties took decisive action Sunday night. Leadership in Arlington, Fairfax and Prince William County declared an early dismissal. Clarke, Fauquier and Stafford County school systems closed for the day. 

LCPS’s Risky Decision and Potential Consequence

Loudoun County Public Schools decided bringing 70,000 children in for a full day of school — in obvious defiance of prevailing common sense — was the correct course of action. And nowhere in the county was this glaring lack of common sense more obvious than at Potomac Falls High School.

Thankfully, the school system dodged a massive bullet from a liability standpoint; the storm didn’t materialize in a worst-case scenario and no one was injured. But imagine what could have happened in a what-if context. The worst of the storm was estimated to arrive between 2PM and 7PM. Had this terrible scenario occurred, Loudoun County would have been forced to make even more dangerous decisions. 

Was LCPS prepared to place children on buses at 2PM in 70mph winds?
Would LCPS been legally bound to keep children in shelter-in-place until 7PM or later?

Chaos and Mismanagement at Potomac Falls High School

The prudent and wise decision from LCPS leadership would have been to close schools for the day across the county, in the best interests of safety for students, parents, and staff. Meanwhile at Potomac Falls, leadership put on a masterclass in “How to not manage a dangerous storm in public education.”

Dr. Tara Woolever, the school’s first-year principal, opened the day by trying to hurriedly cram an unscheduled tornado drill into the morning’s first block in advance of possible deadly storms. Woolever was never able to commence the exercise and when her plan failed, she berated one of the school’s assistant principals to the point of tears. Almost comically, the predicted tornado warnings occurred as several funnel clouds were spotted across the county. Students occupying the school’s trailers situated outside the main building, were not herded out of the structures and into the main gym until much later in the morning.

(Side note: LCPS hilariously labels these trailers as “Learning Cottages” to students, staff and taxpayers. Do you feel good about your child being in a trailer dressed up as a “Learning Cottage” during a tornado warning? Of course not!)

Students in the gymnasium sat for hours on end, denied usage of bathrooms in main hallways, while the school was on a shelter-in-place lockdown. Additionally, some parents were prevented from taking their child home because the school was in a shelter-in-place protocol.

Broader Accountability and Lingering Question

Already dealing with the legal and psychological aftermath of one of their maintenance vehicles fatally striking an LCPS student January 13 in a crosswalk across from Stone Bridge High School, LCPS took a big gamble with this decision. The accident two months ago was tragic, an unintentional accident for sure, but one that should have given LCPS leadership pause when making Monday’s decision.

Now an important question is staring the LCPS School Board and Superintendent’s Office in the face: for all the taxpayer funds allocated to the school system and the responsibilities conferred therein, was the safest and most prudent decision made Monday on behalf of the best interests of Loudoun County’s students, families, and staff?