ST. PAUL - Extreme weather conditions that have lead to a number of school bus cancellations over the past few months have resulted in some discussion and requests to review St. Paul Education's inclement weather policy.
As it stands, buses are cancelled when the temperature - including the windchill - drops below -40C. During the March 9 regular board meeting, Superintendent Glen Brodziak noted that a few requests to take a further look at the policy have been made, recently.
Brodziak said the school division has been working to find "that sweet spot" when it comes to the inclement weather policy.
When asked for the number of inclement weather days experienced this school year, Brodziak provided information from the school division's transportation department, noting that there have been up to 18 inclement weather days this year, so far. While not all of those days affected the entire division, they did affect at least one area.
That number is a combination of a variety of weather factors, including extreme cold, freezing rain, and blizzard conditions.
When asked for an average on the number of inclement weather days normally experienced, that number was pegged at four to seven days, making the 2021/22 school year well above average.
The superintendent recommended bringing the item to the transportation department and bus contractors to discuss further.
Brodziak noted that there are some divisions that set the temperature threshold at -40C without the windchill in their policies, but that means buses could run at -39C, yet it could feel like -50C outside.
"We're trying to get it right," said Brodziak.
Board Chair Heather Starosielski noted that while she understands it can be a challenge for parents when buses are cancelled due to inclement weather, it can also be a challenge to run buses when temperatures dip below -40C, especially in rural areas where there is little or no cell phone reception if an emergency or break-down happens.
The fact that conditions can vary drastically from one area of the division to the other was also noted during Wednesday's discussions.
Trustee Darcy Younghans said he felt it was important to continue to give bus drivers the ability to decide if they will run their route during inclement weather, specifically for this reason. He recalled one winter when the Myrnam area was among the coldest places in the country for a number of days, yet buses ran in many other parts of the school division where temperatures were warmer.
