The weekend deep freeze wreaked havoc with a number of St. Albert and area school buses on Monday but area busing operations were back in business Tuesday.
The severe cold knocked out 17 of 60 buses in St. Albert’s Catholic system on Monday — 12 in St. Albert and five in the Legal and Morinville areas. The Sturgeon division didn’t run buses at all on Monday while St. Albert Protestant Schools had three routes down out of 37.
Though the situation was back to normal on Tuesday the Catholic division was taking a look at its policies and procedures to see if they can be improved, said secretary-treasurer Deb Schlag.
“You have some parents who are unhappy with the decision that you make,” she said. “We do the best that we can.”
Some parents were unhappy the division chose to run buses while some others called in because they didn’t know their bus wasn’t running, Schlag said.
The division’s policy is to keep operating buses until it’s -40 C or colder. Early Monday morning the temperature was hovering near that mark. Schlag and transportation manager Kim Bunz decided to stick to the policy and keep buses running, Schlag said. By about 10 a.m. the mercury dipped past the -40 C mark, according to data collected at the Edmonton International Airport.
“Ultimately it is the parents’ decision whether or not they put them on the bus,” Schlag said.
For rural routes, it’s the responsibility of the bus contractor to notify schools and parents if a bus isn’t running, Shlag said.
For St. Albert routes, the division publicizes closures early in the morning through radio, TV and its website. The division has circulated a list of common sense tips for inclement weather and encourages parents to check on their bus status before leaving their child at a bus stop.
“Don’t just drop your kid off if you haven’t checked to see what’s going on,” Schlag said.
Unlike the Protestant district, the Catholic division doesn’t have an automated phone system that notifies parents when buses aren’t running.
“It is something that we’re looking into,” Schlag said.
The division doesn’t close schools because it doesn’t want anyone to show up and find a locked building, Schlag said.
Edmonton recorded the lowest temperature in North America overnight Saturday, reaching a low of–46 C, just three degrees warmer than Siberia. Overnight Sunday was warmer but still bone chilling with temperatures of -37 C early Monday morning. The weather is forecast to warm significantly this week, with a high of 1 C expected on Thursday.
“It should be a lot easier on everything once the weather warms up. The kids will be able to go outside and play. The buses shouldn’t be much of a worry. It will be a big relief,” said Protestant district spokesperson Paula Power.
