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School Bus Cancellations

NESD changes school bus cancellation policy during severe weather

Feb 14, 2019 | 5:00 PM

Parents shouldn’t expect a bus to pick up their children in the morning if the extreme cold weather is too severe.

The North East School Division (NESD) made a change to its administrative procedure’s manual, as in town bussing will not be running on days when it’s -40 C or below with the wind chill in the morning.

Don Rempel, NESD’s director of education, said the reason for the change is to remove uncertainty from parents who didn’t know whether the buses would be running or not, after hearing that rural buses wouldn’t be running and some of those buses come into town to take students home.

“Parents are notified if the wind chill and temperatures exceed -40 C,” Rempel said. “Our buses typically run in the afternoon, unless parents are notified that it’s not going to run.”

Rempel said even if it’s below -40 C at 3:31 p.m., afternoon buses will most likely run their routes.

According to the NESD administrative procedure’s manual the decision to cancel morning buses shall not be made later than 7 a.m., and afternoon buses no later than noon.

Rempel said schools in the NESD are always open regardless of the weather conditions, and if parents are concerned about their child attending school on severe weather days, they don’t have to send them.

aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow

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