For the transportation departments of the Lakeland Catholic School District (LCSD) and Northern Lights Public Schools (NLPS), a lot goes into deciding whether or not buses are hitting the roads in winter weather conditions.
“Usually, a concern is around student safety,” noted LCSD transportation manager, Janice Lane-DuHart. “Can (students) get to school safely in the buses, or is it the best decision to cancel for everybody? Even if the buses do run, if parents don’t feel it’s safe enough, they have every right not to send their child on the bus.”
If buses are cancelled due to freezing temperatures, it has to be equivalent, or exceed, -40 C. A wind chill of -45 C or higher also prompts it.
If there’s a major storm or the roads are icy, there are a number of factors that go into the decision.
Both boards heavily monitor the weather across their divisions, and keep an extra eye out if they know a storm front is on the way.
Director of transportation for NLPS, Matt Richter, said “(The weather) is always being monitored” through technical data, weather, and computer models.
Another aspect that goes into the decision is what contracted bus drivers for both school districts are saying. Ritchter noted it could be in contrast with what the data shows.
“We do have contractors and drivers in different regions that are out and about early, or they might have family members of the contractor (who)... are out at three or four in the morning. They’ve already given intel back to the contractor as to what it’s like on the roads versus what the computers are saying,” he detailed.
Lane-DuHart added, “I let some drivers make individual decisions, and usually they park outside so they know how bad the roads are in their areas. If I don’t make the decision, each driver has the perogative to make the decision. If they’re not comfortable running, then they can cancel their route.”
Local contractor with NLPS, Robert Grinevitch, hears what his driver thinks of the roads and uses his own judgment before making a decision.
“A lot of times, my driver will drive into the shop so we already have a good idea of what the roads look like. A lot of the time, I’ll go out at quarter to six in the morning, and check the roads,” he said.
Johnnie Doonanco, another contractor with NLPS, stressed the importance of his employees feeling confident they can get their students safely to school.
“It’s up to the driver to make their own choice. Like I told them, ‘play it safe with the kids, don’t take the chance. If you can’t go, tell them you can’t go.’ That’s it.”
Both boards attempt to make a decision on cancellations before 6 a.m. to allow parents the time to figure out other ways of getting their kids to school, or if they’re sending them at all. They’re notified either through the district’s website, a busing app, or directly by the bus driver.
While portions of routes cancelled could be fine, Richter stressed the importance of every student’s safety.
“We have to look at the route as a whole, because a lot of the rural routes have turn arounds, they have back country roads that could be blown in, iced over, or a tree could have fallen... We can’t pick and choose with the route that day, it’s an all-or-nothing type thing,” he said, adding while some stops could be clear, others may not be.
