I couldn't make it to my weekly tutoring session -- I got on the roads, saw the disaster they were, and just came straight in to work early. (I'd been checking the city web site up until the second I left.)

I still wound up nearly skidding into someone on the way.

If one high school in the city made an independent decision to close, the rest of the system should have thought twice before opening. Of course, once you tell the kids that they are leaving early, you lose them for the rest of the time.

If the one high school you are referring to is City, they closed last night, before any snow, because they had no heat. At least that was what was reported on the TV news.

We are becoming a city of wimps. I was so happy to see when I woke up that Baltimore City schools were open. The kids already have two (and in some cases 3) days off this week. The roads were much better this afternoon than they were this morning....the kids should have stayed until the end of the day.

Now I'm afraid the school system will buckle under the pressure and close schools for tomorrow.

How many of the city school kids take a bus to school in which it would present a problem to be on the roads? I had no problem walking through the snow, so why can't they?

Schools are being closed, children are failing in their academics and the parents/teachers/DSS are failing us as well....so who really cares if Baltimore City Schools were closed or not?

Less than an inch of snow should not have hindered any school from closing. I was impressed that the school board for Baltimore City took the lead to keep schools open, rather than following the bandwagon of closing schools. The drive was safe this morning and it was safe at the time during early dismissal. There's absolutely no reason to complain! Other states have greater inches of snow, but it's a regular school day. If other states can handle it, so can MD.

If I could walk 20 miles uphill to school through hip-deep snow, than these kids today can certainly handle a moist sidewalk. The teachers, now - that's a different story.

I can't believe they would close the schools for 1 inch of snow if that is the case. We have received 121 inches of snow this winter and only 1 school day due to the fact 10 inches was dumped in one night and accumulations of 2 inches per hour was reported to occur. Unbelievable!

I agree that school should have not been let out early today and that calling off of school today would have been a mistake. I disagree with everyone always attacking the teachers for decisions we have no say in making. How does Baltimore expect to raise student achievement when teachers are treated with such disrespect. If the citizens of Baltimore would start valuing their education maybe their students will too. Don't blame all the teachers for the problems that are culturally rooted in the city.

Most school districts decide to close and/or delay schools because of transportation concerns for BOTH students and staff. Baltimore City schools should have been closed today. Why? Because a majority of the staff unlike the students do NOT live near the schools that they trek to on a daily basis. Who cares that schools are closed for two professional days? I'm certain some parents are upset. Teachers are also babysitters. In addition, teachers must model basic values, manners, social skills, maintain discipline, establish boundaries, and set consequences that are not taught in most homes in lieu of spending the MUCH needed time on academics to include remedial skills. I hope school is closed tomorrow! A Teacher

BC Teacher.

Don't listen to the rabble. They are mostly just snooty county residents.

I mean Baltimore went to school today, the rest of the state was shut down for the most part I don't understand why BALTIMORE is being criticized.

My classes were in session and we had, pretty much, a full day. Meanwhile Baltimore County closed for the same 1.5 inches of snow and not a drop of criticism for them. Same with Howard County and Harford.

Oh wait, I think I know why.

I'm from New York & I can tell you that the snow was no big deal this morning. It's just that Marylanders don't know how to drive in the snow...or at all for that matter.

It wasn't just that they called a 2 hour early dismissal, but that they did it so darn late in the game. I checked at noon and none of the sites had it up - even the main BCPSS site. That is inexcusable. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the decision to let kids go early, you have to give the schools and parents notice.

I hate to be one of those back-in-the-day folks, but in the early 90's when I was teaching, they only let out school if the MTA buses were not going to be able to get kids to school. We all love days off, but it really should be for good reason.

I too was glad to see the schools open. My main objection to the rationale used by the school system is that "if the MTA buses can run, we will be open." Unfortunately, most teachers no longer live in the city and once the kids hear other school systems are closed, they don't come either. Parents kept the students home in droves today--or should I say allowed them to stay home?

Seriously? People are whining because school wasn't closed for 1 inch of snow? Even at 5 pm today, there was one inch of snow area wide. Come on! The MTA was still running so kids could get to school if they wanted to. Sounds to me that a bunch of teachers wanted to get a day off and are upset because their colleagues in the surrounding counties got a day and they didn't.

Do you really think that students going to school one more day makes a difference. As a teacher in an elementary school it is impossible to teach to 2- six years old when it is snowing outside. The question at the end of the day is it safe for the students and staff to travel. Because North Avenue didn't make the decision then it was up to the parents and staff to go or not. Is going to school for 7 hours in questionable weather worth the risk? To me it wasn't. I am a mother first and my safety was more important to my family then me showing up to work to keep the six year olds busy. It wasn't even a tough decision.

I had quite a productive and I'm glad schools were open despite the early dismissal. I would feel overwhelmed with the things I wanted to get done this week had we been closed.

I don't normally sympathize with the teacher bashers but in this case I agree, stop whining. If nobody is showing up to school today when public transportation is running, that means they don't want to go to school and don't need to go to school. That's a problem with your school not the weather. Our attendance was pretty good today.

Michelle how much advance notice are you looking for? When it gets canceled it gets canceled and they put it up on the website, you're going to have to call the parents either way. I don't see the big deal.

Baltimore City did the right thing. Schools in Ohio, Chicago, Nebraska, Colorado manage winter just fine. And the early dismissal makes hardships for parents who are working -- and have to leave work to their child, decreasing everyone's productivity. We can make our own decisions if we feel the conditions are worse than we can navigate, but shouldn't impact the entire city.

I'm also shocked that any schools closed today. I was on the road at 7:30, and there was no trouble. This is not a blizzard folks, this is 1 inch of snow. Spend some winters in the midwest, then complain about the sprinkling we got today. Sheesh.

It's just typical of BCPSS (even when you want to hope for more) that you find out after noon that schools are closing 2 hours early which means you are supposed to close at 12:30 if you are a school that gets out at 2:30. This plays havoc with finishing lunch (at least in elementary schools). At the latest, schools and parents should be notified by 11:00 am so there is the possibility that it won't cause chaos. What did they know at noon that they didn't know at 11?

I've served my country and I've lived in, Colorado, Alaska, and the list goes on. The difference between Baltimore and other cities--RESOURCES (weather personnel, equipment, funding, etc). Some places have a lot more than us. Safety is paramount. During inclement weather, schools sidewalks and parking lots require clearing. That's difficult to do with a skeletal crew and a school district with over 150 schools. We're talking liability if someone slips and gets hurt. Why should the schools inconvenience the parents? Blah, blah, blah. I thought all New Yorkers travel via public transportation. Now proudly serving the public schools. I'm glad I left the city for the county. Lol.

Can we out this to rest?

It is obvious that the correct decision was made to keep the schools open Tuesday morning was correct. With one inch, maybe two in the blizzard areas, anyone actually qualified to drive could have made it to work. Teachers living outside the City should have had an easy ride in. My trip from far northern Baltimore County to North Avenue was snow free until I hit the City line where, I admit, the roads were not in the "best" shape. The City must buy the cheap salt mix.

I feel that we can also agree that the decision to close early was unfortunate considering that no snowfall apparent on the weather radars could possibly reach the area prior to 4:30 PM.

No need to whine, postulate or discuss further,

Discussion over?

If I could walk 20 miles uphill to school through hip-deep snow, than these kids today can certainly handle a moist sidewalk.

Well, when I was a child, it got so cold in the winter that words froze before they came out of our mouths and we had to put them in the frying pan to know what we were saying. Our house was so small that we moved uptown to a shoebox. Kids today are just too damn soft.

It was not worth it. I had 12 kids absent from 1st period, and 10 from another.

I am sympathetic with those who have to travel from outside the city, but the big problem is that once the schools open, when they close, mostly the MTA does not come to pick up the kids, therefore they either have to go out to the main stops, or wait for parents (who may not be able to get there at that time).

The email to close came at 12:14 from Alonso's account.

Relocating from Boston last year, I am truly blown away that were no school for Baltimore County. So what it took you 45 mins or an hour to get from point A to point B, I bet you didn't leave early to plan your morning. I thought it was a very bad call as well as in the past this year to delay and close schools for a few inches of snow. Then you wonder why the kid at the cash register can't count the change.

I have to be the work at 6 and I am happy schools closed today. I wish they would've closed earlier before 5 am. My neice is a student at Paquin and I wish they would considered the students that attend there too

Much ado about nothing.

For the record, I'm from Michigan and can drive in the snow very well, thank you. The issue in Baltimore City is that there is no road crew to speak of - very little salting or plowing occurs. That's why comparisons to more northern states and school districts just don't work. Even in my small sw Michigan hometown, I wouldn't have had to drive on the kind of soupy side roads as I did this morning on the way to work. I was slip-sliding all around on the side streets, and I live right in Baltimore City. A delay would have been appropriate.

Getting out early, though, didn't make much sense. It hardly snowed during the day, and there was no reason to get out early. I also agree that it took too long to notify schools about the closing; generally, schools are given much more notice than they were given on Tuesday.

Like Corey, I had a very productive day at school.

I wish the city schools were more decisive about these matters. Even this morning (Wednesday), Baltimore County and several others had closed down by the time I awoke at 5:00 a.m. I wasn't expecting to have school, since the website I was examining (WBAL) also told of the very hazardous road conditions this morning, but I waited and waited, eventually showering and starting to get ready, with no word from Baltimore City. Finally, at 5:45 a.m., cancellation was announced.

Folks, stop comparing Baltimore to other places that annually get more snow. Those places are prepared for that snow, and have made a huge investment in being prepared. They have more snow removal equipment, and an annual budget to pay for more people to operate that equipment. That's why a foot of snow may not even result in a delay there, while an inch of snow causes issues around here.

As a county teacher who used to live in the north, I looked at the roads yesterday and laughed to myself that we were off, but I understand why. There may have only been a little snow on my road, but that little bit of snow was not plowed or salted until 3pm, and there is no way a school bus should have been on the hill of my road with even a little snow.

The reality is that because of the uncertainity of weather where we live, we will always "over-react" to snow. We don't get enough every year to ever be as prepared as places up north.