From a PD day yesterday to a snow day today, some kids who travel to school by bus haven’t had classes since Friday.
Today is the first snow day of 2018-2019. Ryan Hartling, transportation superintendent for three of the four school boards in our region, says today’s bus cancellation is more about road conditions than bad weather. Ice under the bit of snow we got overnight makes for slippery conditions at intersections, and on less-travelled roads.
“People have to understand too that the school bus just doesn’t follow highways and main routes that most people take to and from work,” he points out. “ It goes into the side streets, it goes into the back roads and stuff like that to pick up the children So we have to consider all the roads, not just the main roads.”
The decision is a joint one between Hartling and the school bus operators, who check out the routes early in the morning.
“You know, you’re looking at utmost the safety of the students and the vehicles and other people on the road,” according to Hartling. “Buses are large vehicles and they have precious cargo, so we definitely take that into consideration. We often err on the side of safety.”
The past several school years have each experienced between 15 and 20 snow days. The schools stay open, but the buses don’t run.