With bone-chilling temperatures and bus cancellations happening throughout Living Sky School Division last Wednesday, there was no better time for board members to discuss transportation policy during severe weather.
The resulting revised severe weather procedure approved at the board meeting at central office in North Battleford is meant to ensure student safety and prevent situations where buses carrying students break down due to severe cold conditions in the winter, given that many of the buses run in rural areas.
There were only minor changes made to the existing policy, but the discussion was wide-ranging.
The main change had to do with bus cancellations. Longstanding policy at the school division has been to not run buses when the combined temperature/wind chills are at -40 C.
But there was a need for more clarity, particularly with the provisions regarding educational tours and school trips. Under the previous policy, transportation could be allowed if the temperature was no longer -40 C.
According to Director of Finance Lonny Darroch, when temperatures moved from -40 C to -39 C, schools would start phoning central office to see if the buses were still running for school trips.
The revised policy would instead require the temperature to rise five points to -35 C two hours before departure. At that point transportation may be allowed with approval of the director of education or designate.
In those instances the director or designate would still be able to say no to the travel if the forecast showed the temperature going back down to -40 C.
There was also discussion about how strict the division was when it came to enforcing clothing. The policy did include a requirement for students to “wear winter footwear and outerwear and to carry with them winter headwear and gloves or mitts.” The policy also allowed the bus driver to “restrict access until appropriate conditions were met,” but there were worries expressed around the table that this wasn’t strict enough to address the safety of students.
Trustee Ken Arsenault noted a lot of students don’t dress appropriately for frigid weather, and that “people don’t realize” what happens when it hits -40 C.
“What happens when that bus breaks down and the kid loses four toes?” asked Arsenault. “In 40 below, if you’re not dressed properly, that happens.”
Darroch pledged to come back with some further changes to that portion of the policy to address those concerns raised. In the meantime, he recommended passing the policy.
