Following a stretch of extremely cold weather last week, St. Paul Education Regional Division board of trustees agreed to move forward with changing a piece of its busing policy that will sometimes see buses running in the afternoon despite being cancelled in the morning.
Last week, buses were cancelled for three days in a row due to temperatures in the -40C range. On Jan. 10, buses were also cancelled due to cold weather in the morning.
While last week’s stretch saw temperatures mostly remain in the -40C range throughout the day, the weather on Jan. 10 was a bit different. The temperature dipped below -40C in the morning, but warmed a bit through the day. It’s situations like the one experienced on Jan. 10 that brought about a request to change how things are done.
The board brought the idea forward to administration to look into the possibility of running school buses in the afternoons on days they don’t run in the morning due to extreme cold.
The overall goal would be more kids in the classroom, but the change would also offer parents, specifically those who work during the day, more flexibility. Many parents may be able to drive their children to school in the morning when buses are cancelled, but can’t leave work early to pick them up, for example.
After receiving the suggestion from the board, Superintendent Glen Brodziak said he approached bus drivers and school administrators with the idea.
“Communication is going to be very important,” said Brodziak, noting he would be moving forward with the policy change.
Trustee Dwight Wiebe agreed, saying it would have to be clear when an announcement is initially made if buses are canceled in the morning but running in the afternoon.
Brodziak noted that it would be especially important at elementary schools that regular after-school routines are followed when buses are cancelled in the morning, but running in the afternoon.
Decisions about busing would still be made by on a site-by-site basis, since sometimes there can be varying temperatures throughout the division.
According to SPERD’s inclement weather policy, buses are cancelled when the “feels like” temperature on the Weather Network dips below -40C.
“This change of practice is only for temperature that we can predict,” said Brodziak. He added, that there are “lots of decision makers” involved in bus cancellations due to inclement weather, which of course includes bus drivers themselves.
When considering the school calendar, the division builds in a certain number of days for inclement weather, but last week’s cold stretch used up a number of those days, said Chair Heather Starosielski. She said she felt moving forward with the policy change was “great news” and that “every minute (in the classroom) is valuable.”
Brodziak said he felt the change of practice would be a “win-win”for everyone. He added that extra-curricular activities would still be run on a case-by-case basis when the weather is a factor.
The superintendent said he hopes to have a new policy ready soon and that it would be implemented as soon as possible.
“There’s lots of winter left,” said Starosielski.
