02-05-2019, 11:52 AM
Bus cancellations a judgment call, Waterloo Region school trustees told
Quote:When it's really cold outside, schools want to keep children safe. But schools also don't want to lose a day of teaching.
And so a decision to cancel buses or close schools is about temperature, but also about forecasts and consultations around road conditions, snowclearing, and school bus operations, education trustees heard Monday.
"All of our school days are precious to us," education superintendent Bill Lemon said in an interview. A lost teaching day can't be recovered, he told Waterloo Region District School Board trustees.
"We want to take great lengths to make each day a meaningful instructional day for our students."
Trustees discussed weather policy after hearing from upset parents following extreme cold last Thursday.
"People have strong opinions on this," trustee Scott Piatkowski said.
The practice of local school boards is to cancel buses if wind chill is forecast to fall to -35 C by 7 a.m. (Wind chill combines the effect of temperature and wind.)
Last Thursday the wind chill at 7 a.m. was -34 C. The school board ran buses at the edge of cancellation. Then it got colder, falling to -36 C at 9 a.m. while kids waited at the curb for many delayed buses.
Up to 98 schools experienced bus delays between 6:57 a.m. and 10:09 a.m. Parents tweeted their outrage.