The Ferndale Schools include portions of Ferndale, Oak Park and the Charter Township of Royal Oak, as well as all of Pleasant Ridge. Areas throughout the district experienced significant storm damage and lost power.

I just wanted to note that I think there is a misconception that this delay is about power outages and there's a lot of fist shaking at DTE. But I uploaded some pics of just a few of the dozens and dozens of homes in PR that have substantial damage. Those pics show just a small percentage of the damage seen on a walk around *one* block. There are trees down all over the place on Oakridge, Cambridge, Hanover, Oakdale, Ridge, Oakland Park, and others. Sitting on homes, through garages, on top of cars, in yards (if it had a lucky fall). And with them came many power lines. It's really a precarious situation aside from electricity, and I'm glad that Ferndale Schools postponed the first day. I'm sure other areas of the city were hit too, but just wanted to give a little testimonial to how bad it is up here, so hopefully people can relax a bit with their DTE rage (and I hear you -- we didn't have power for 5 days during the outage in July -- that was a cluster, for sure. This is different.). Here's hoping everyone stays safe and we get some normalcy as soon as possible.

Sorry to have to disagree with you Jennifer but DTE deserves all the fist shaking it has coming. I live in Royal Oak and work in Ferndale schools. DTE has allowed downed sparking wires to remain for DAYS causing fires in peoples back yards here in Royal Oak for 3 summers in a row. They put yellow caution tape around the scene and then just leave! The transformer on our easement has been replaced 5 times in the last 4 years ruining trees and shrubs in my back yard that I have had to replace myself. Twice this summer DTE came out to replace the transformer without the proper tools. My husband had to provide them with equipment AND tell the crews how to properly install the transformer. Never mind that DTE keeps installing the same model transformer which obviously can't handle the load. Thankfully my husband is an electrician. Neighbors across the street from me have yards that butt up against the red run golf course. Electrical poles that have been leaning for years STILL remain after dozens of calls to DTE to replace them. One was finally replaced this summer after the new pole sat on it's side for over 3 months ruining the new sod the neighbor installed. While DTE certainly has no control over the weather and the damage it causes, they DO have a responsibility to repair in a reasonable amount of time and to do it properly using proper equipment and contractors who have knowledge! As for the safety issues of leaving dangerous scenes unattended - that's criminal!

Robin, I don't disagree with you, but I think that's a separate issue from the schools thing. A lot of people who are not in the areas with tons of trees and lines down are blaming the school cancellation on DTE, and I think they're unaware about how bad the storm damage is on the NW and NE edges of town. That was what I'm trying to highlight. Ferndale Schools is making safety a priority for students trying to walk on sidewalks and get on buses, and it's not an issue of power restoration not being done in a reasonable amount of time (though I'm certain that is a secondary concern out of practicality). Tree service crews and staff are still cleaning up the playground and yard at Roosevelt Primary today, and they've been there every day since Saturday doing so. I'm really impressed at the progress made in a short amount of time. It's been a total mess, and people are working hard to get the area kid-safe, as it should be.

I have seen the damage myself driving around ferndale/pleasant ridge and am very pleased that DTE (mostly contractors hired by DTE) are cleaning up the mess in a timely fashion. As a teacher trying to prepare for the school year, it is certainly crunch time for all of us. I understand your point Jennifer, although I haven't personally heard of anyone blaming DTE for the schools closing today. I have serious issues (as do most of my neighbors) with DTE because of the dangerous issues I stated above that continue to this day. Leaning poles and wires on garages that stretched even more after last weekend's storm damage will be there until the next time they go down and catch another neighbors yard on fire. DTE responds the way they're supposed to (this past weekend for instance) when consumers start shaking their fists because DTE doesn't like the negative publicity. The last time DTE came out to caution tape a yard because it was on fire, they did so and promptly left for FOUR DAYS while the live wire sparked jumped and burned. If it wasn't for the watchful eyes of our entire neighborhood taking shifts day and night to watch over the affected (burning) area I am sure children and animals would have been hurt or worse. You are right - we are talking about two different angles here and credit should be given where it is due. I'm glad DTE is doing a good job in THIS situation Safety is the main issue here. I wish DTE would remember that in ALL situations.