Snow days and safety: How SECPSD handles winter bus ...

With the cold weather experienced over the last couple of weeks, it’s a good time to brush up on bus cancellations procedures. 

Andre Verhage, transportation supervisor for SE Cornerstone Public School Division, says there are several conditions that could lead to bus cancellations.

“The first thing would be temperature,” he said. “If it’s below –40°C ambient or –45°C with the wind chill, we would be cancelling.”

Road conditions and visibility are also factors in the decision.

“Of course, there’s the odd case of mechanical cancellations, such as no starts or issues with the bus in the cold weather.”

If cold weather is the cause, the foreman makes the decision.

“They make the call by 6:30 a.m. and check the temperature for the receiving school. They would get a hold of the affected drivers and make the cancellation,” Verhage said. “If it’s for road conditions or visibility, the drivers will make the call, depending on where they are.”

However, Verhage noted that temperature-related cancellations do not apply to urban buses.

“The only time we would shut down our urban buses is if the streets are impassable or if the city or emergency services request us to,” he said.

If a cancellation is made, schools are notified, but it is the responsibility of bus drivers to inform those on their route.

“We also post cancellations on our website under the bus cancellations tab,” Verhage said.

Bus drivers receive training to attain their endorsements and physically train on each run they cover.

“They do get some winter driving experience training with other drivers,” Verhage said. “We recommend they drive according to road conditions, slow down if the roads are bad, and cancel if they don’t feel comfortable.”

As for the buses, Verhage said they use oil suited for all weather conditions and run winter washer fluid.

“These buses are in the shop every 30 driven days, getting inspected front to back,” he said. “We don’t really do anything special for winter; they’re maintained as if they’re running in wintertime year-round.”

When the weather is extremely cold, Verhage reminds parents to ensure children are dressed appropriately.

“Just in case drivers run into issues on their route, it can take up to an hour to get to them,” he said. “Make sure children are dressed warmly or at least pack some warm clothes.”