Blizzard of December
1, 2006
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Administration fails to Respond to
Blizzard - Dec 1, 2006
Snow Emergency Update - December
10, 2006
Stories from the Blizzard
Administration Fails
to Respond to Blizzard
December 1, 2006
We have received many calls
from our members who came to work today (Friday) in the
midst of a blizzard, only to be told “go home.”
Up until at least 7:00 am Friday morning,
faculty, students and staff were told that all campuses
were open. Milwaukee Public Schools, on the other hand,
had cancelled all classes by 5:00 am. It wasn't until shortly
after 7:00 am that the MATC administration made its decision.
By that time, many faculty, staff and students had already
arrived at MATC. An email announcing the closure of MATC
was not sent to the college community until 8:07 am.
It was quite evident by 5:00 am that a
closing was necessary. JSOnline reported at 5:02 am that
The National Weather Service has issued a Blizzard Warning
for Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha Counties, predicting 8
– 13 inches of snow forecast for these counties. In
a detailed report by the The National Weather Service, people
were advised that “TRAVEL REMAINS TREACHEROUS. THIS
IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION. TRAVEL IS NOT RECOMMENDED
…IF YOU LEAVE THE SAFETY OF INDOORS... YOU ARE PUTTING
YOUR LIFE AT RISK….”
Whether it was indecisiveness or something
else, the safety of our students, faculty and staff was
ignored today.
We thank all of you who have called our
office to bring this situation to our attention. We intend
to communicate your concerns to the administration. We cannot
allow administrative indecisiveness to jeopardize people’s
safety again.
Snow Emergency
Update
December 10, 2006
On Tuesday, December 5th Charlie Dee,
Michael Rosen and Steve Holloway met with Dr. Cole and his
leadership team. We discussed MATC’s inadequate response
to the December 1st blizzard which jeopardized people’s
safety. At the meeting we presented data from the National
Weather Service as well as your emails that clearly indicated
a closing at 5:02 am was warranted. The administration agreed
that it had not communicated its decision to close in a
timely manner, and it agreed to meet with Local 212’s
weather expert, George Stone, later in the week.
Stone, Rosen and Susan Ruggles met with
CFO, Michael Sargent, on December 7th and we agreed to the
following:
- George Stone will be added to the team
of MATC administrators who make the decision on whether
the college will be open or not. Since George teaches
weather, receives National Weather Service reports and
understands them, this means someone with expertise in
the area will have input into the decision making process.
Hopefully, this will help the administration make an informed
decision in the future.
- The National Weather Service’s
analysis which was given short shrift last Friday will
be given significant weight in any decision to close or
not. Since a Blizzard Warning means there is high wind,
heavy snow, and low temperatures that are life threatening,
high priority will be given to such a declaration. In
addition, more attention will be paid to what MPS and
other elementary schools decide since so many of our students
have children attending these schools.
- If the college campuses are closed
after people arrive, the administration will not close
the doors and prevent people from entering. Nor will the
administration force people to leave in dangerous conditions.
- Since 45 minutes lapsed between the
time the decision was made to close and the announcement
of that decision, a plan to ensure that decisions are
communicated immediately and effectively through the web,
email, Milwaukee Public Television and phones will be
developed and implemented.
- The Emergency Closing Procedure will
be revised to reflect these changes.
Thanks to everyone who called and emailed
the 212 office. The information you provided was instrumental
in convincing the administration to re-evaluate and revise
its approach to weather emergencies.
Stories from the Blizzard of December
1, 2006
Here are a few of the emails
we received from our members, sharing their experiences.
Due to medical reasons I take the van
on a daily basis (morning & evening). The van picked
me up at 6th & Wells about 6:30 a.m. on Friday December
1, 2006.
I was already in the lab preparing for
students when the announcement was made that MATC was closed.
After school was cancelled, I requested
a ride to the 6th & Wells parking structure. I was told
by the Officer (Scott) that MATC was closed. The Officer
showed no concern my safety as an MATC employee.
The visibility was not great, the sidewalks
were covered with snow and the only place to walk was in
the street. Not only were the streets slippery, I also had
to be concern about the traffic. I needed assistance, yet
I received none.
- Willa Thomas
I agree that MATC
was extremely late in getting this information out to students.
I will give you an example as to how this late announcement
affected one of my students.
I have all my students in full time clinicals
in the community. Students do not need to be in clinic when
MATC has declared a snow day. I met with a student this
morning who had to drive from Slinger to the Milwaukee VA
Hospital for her clinical. It was a 2 1/2 hour ride for
this student. It was a long, dangerous ride for her and
she said she did it because school had not declared a snow
day. In addition to this, the student's car was ploughed
in at the VA parking lot and she needed assistance to have
her car pushed out of the parking area in order to leave
at the end of the day.
This student's experience could have been
avoided if school had responded in a timely manner. It was
fortunate that this student was not in an accident. I hope
MATC can respond earlier in the future to announce their
closing as did numerous other schools and businesses in
the greater Milwaukee community.
-Kathy Tomczyk
Friday’s late school closure caused
significant problems with 2 HVAC Servicing Apprenticeship
groups.
Apprentices are only allowed 3 absences
during their 5 year term or they are subject to dismissal
from the program. Apprentices receive 8 hours of wages per
day of school.
Local 601 apprentices come to South Campus
from the Milwaukee Area, Madison, Janesville, and as far
away as Portage & New Glarus.
Local 118 apprentices are from the Racine
/ Kenosha Area.
Many of Friday’s apprentices had
to leave for school (or chance an unexcused absence) as
early as 5:00 AM only to become stuck on the highway for
hours, later to find out that the school cancelled classes.
Many lost a days pay because work was
dispatched for the day or by the time they returned home.
Most of the 24 apprentices, unfortunately not only were
stuck in life threatening weather, but lost 1/5th of their
weekly paycheck. (first year apprentices are at the bottom
of the pay scale so every penny counts!)
-Kenneth Brodzik
HVAC Dept.
I am a full time instructor in Physical
Education. Pat OConnor and I had arrived by 6:30 this am
to set up our manikins and supplies for an entire day training
in CPR and American Heart that many of our 25 health people
needed to be at today. It is inexcuseable to have waited
so long to close this facilty ! I am appalled at the disrespect
for our teaching staff and our hard working students. This
indecision on the part of our administration inconvienenced
many well intended educators and students today!
- Beth Buresh
MATC Physical Education
It would be nice if Administration would
inform the public, staff and faculty of MATC closing(s)
earlier than 8:14 a.m.
I called MATC downtown campus between
6:30 a.m. and 7:10 a.m. and the live receptionist who answered
the phone stated "MATC and all campus are opened."
Prior to leaving the house I check the MATC web site but
nothing had been published.
I got to the lab after much struggle due
to weather & asthmatic conditions. I checked the MATC
web site and finally learned that MATC had published the
campus closings due to Snow emergency. Info Tech on Groupwise
sent an email regarding the closings at 8:14 a.m. (after
the fact).
Many students came to class. Some are
stuck in the MGAI Driveway and so am I because no plowing
has taken place.
I know of staff, students and faculty
who drive from Kenosha, Racine, Waukesha, Pewaukee and Mequon
and surrounding areas etc. who would appreciate hearing
of MATC closings during the early hours (for instance the
6:00 a.m. news).
I hope that in the future more consideration
is given to students, staff and faculty as it pertains to
School closings.
Thanks.
Marla Possell - Instructor
Milwaukee Graphic Arts Institute (MGAI)
I was scheduled to present at an Advisory
Committee Meeting for Student Accommodation Services in
M612 at 7:45 on Friday, December 1st. I heard the blizzard
warnings at 4:45 a.m. Shortly thereafter, Channel 4 announced
that MPS was closed. At this point, I became very concerned
because non-MATC employees were also scheduled to attend
the Advisory Committe meeting. I called MATC Public Safety
to find out if we were open, as none of the television stations
mentioned MATC. I was informed that we were open. Hence,
I got ready for work.
I called Public Safety again before leaving
my home in Mequon at 5:50 am. Again, I was advised that
we were open. I shared my concern - albeit to no avail -
about driving hazards for students, staff, faculty, and
Advisory Committee members. I then began the long, tedious,
and treacherous process of driving to MATC in a blizzard;
I called Public Safety three more times on the way, very
willing to turn around at any given moment. My last call
to Public Safety was at ~7:05 (over an hour into my usual
25 minute trip); the officer who answered the phone was
clearly annoyed that I was calling again to ask as "all
MATC Operations are running and employees should report
to school." It took me another 20 minutes to get to
the parking lot on 4th and Juneau. After walking through
the snow to the Main Building, I found that the doors were
locked. Another disgruntled employee informed me that the
decision had finally been made to close school.
At this point, my desire was to go into
school to get caught up on paperwork. The prospect of driving
anywhere at that point was not a pleasant one. However,
I was denied access to the school. I had no choice but to
walk back to my car, head home on northbound I 43 and get
stuck behind a jack-knifed truck. I sat and idled for nearly
90 minutes before I was able to proceed north again. My
drive time to school was 90 minutes; my drive time home
was 2 hours and 20 minutes.
Incidentally, I was not happy to hear
today that several community members of the Advisory Committee
also went through the same process. They, too, made the
drive to MATC because the cancellation was not announced
in a timely and considerate fashion.
While it was a good decision to close
school, it was a terrible and inconsiderate move to make
the decision so late. Many students, faculty, staff, and
community members had appointments at MATC as early as 7
and 8 in the morning. Most staff members report to work
by 7:45 on Friday's. I am very disappointed and angry because
administration gave no consideration to the safety of members
of the MATC community. They also ignored the obvious facts
of the day - Milwaukee was experiencing a major blizzard
with warnings stating that travel was hazardous and dangerous.
In fact, a City snow Plow had literally flipped at the intersection
of 6th and McKinley... Just a block from school. That happened
already at 5:00 am.
Finally, the frosting on the cake for
me came today when Payroll finally sent out instructions
for reporting time on Friday - 24 hours after the deadline
for submitting timesheets to our supervisors. (Incidentally,
because no one knew what the process was yesterday, I guessed
and had to go through the process of resubmitting a corrected
timesheet by hand this afternoon. This in the middle of
a very busy day serving students.) Again, I am very disappointed
and angry about this entire situation. I would have been
quite content to at least have the opportunity to complete
important paperwork once I had made the long drive down
here on Friday. Because I was denied that opportunity, I
feel it is very fair to receive comp time for the 4+ hours
that I spent as a devoted employee trying to get to my place
of employment.
- Julie Klug
Transition Specialist, Student Accommodation Services
Prevention Specialist
I live in Racine, & listen to Public
Radio in the morning. I heard the National Weather Service
Bulletin on WGTD, which ended with, "If you leave your
home, You are risking your
life...." That's good enough for me--a Federal Agency
told me not to go to work, so I didn't wait for MATC to
tell me the same.
- Beth Rubanka
Who is responsible for making the decision
of closing the school in a timely manner? I have a 7:00
AM start time on Fridays along with other faculty members.
Only to arrive and to be told........ GO HOME!!!!!
Perhaps, the "BUCK STOPS" at the president's office???
Prior to leaving for work, I called Public
Safety at approximately 6:15 AM that morning and their response
was...."No one has made the decision to close school"
Just maybe, all MATC employees should send e-mails to President
Cole's attention, regarding this irresponsible indecisive
lack of action. Thank you for your understanding.
- Peter Stojanovich
I too came in to work on Friday
only to find out it was closed. I had a student call me
at home to find out if classes were still on. She told me
that she had clinical at a hospital and did not know whether
to go or not. I told her that if MATC had not announced
by 6 am that it was closed that it meant it was opened.
She said she would then go to the hospital.
Later, when I arrived at school I called her on her cell
phone. She was at the hospital parking lot. She later told
me that she had received several calls from classmates telling
her that they too had gone to their assigned hospitals,
only to be told to leave. They were not allowed to stay
since classes had been canceled.
The handling of this situation was irresponsible and placed
students, staff and faculty lives in danger.
-Gloria Ramos
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