Why do classrooms stay open when school buses are cancelled?

This morning's icy road conditions and inclement weather prompted the Algoma & Huron-Superior Transportation Services Consortium (AHSTSC) to cancel all school-related transportation for every board in the catchment area.

The transportation service provides busing for dozens of elementary and secondary schools between Spanish and Hornepayne.

Despite today’s significant weather event, schools remained open.  

SooToday received a number of inquiries from concerned parents and residents who questioned why the school boards make the decision to operate while its transportation service has acknowledged the roads are unsafe.

“Why would the school board expect the teachers and care staff to risk their lives trying to get to the schools?” one reader asked. “This weather system has been forecast for a week, it is now upon us and yet the schools remain open.”

“Please tell me how it makes sense to cancel the buses because it is too dangerous for the buses to be on the roads, but you want the parents to be on the roads driving because the schools are still open?” another commented.

In an email response to SooToday, Algoma District School Board’s Director of Education Lucia Reece said they “appreciate the concern of some community members about the safety of our staff who travel to work.”

The board noted that they “have a policy and procedures in place to support staff who may be unable or for whom it is unsafe to travel to their regular worksite. Staff are provided reminders of these procedures every fall, as we head into the winter season.”

Despite the AHSTSC concluding that road conditions were too poor for school transportation today, it doesn’t guarantee that schools will necessarily close, Reece explained.

“The Board makes every effort to keep schools open unless conditions are too severe, just as other city services continue to operate,” she wrote. “Before a decision is made, our Board staff (in consultation with our co-terminus Boards), typically checks with local Board of Works and local Police on the conditions of area roads, noting that some of our bus routes include backroads and rural areas.”

“After the consultation, a decision is made, we communicate to families as quickly as possible, as we understand that most parents need to get to work themselves and may be unable to make arrangements for the care of their children on short notice, if schools are closed. It is always the decision of parents/guardians if they choose to transport their children to school when transportation is cancelled.”

The Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board said it also has policies and procedures in place to support staff and parents during inclement weather, and that they will do their “utmost to keep schools open, particularly when community services and other workspaces are not disrupted.”

“Considering some parents may be required to attend their workplace and may not be able to secure child-minding services on short notice, schools remain open, and staff are required to attend,” communications officer Jim Fitzpatrick said in an email to SooToday. “The decision to transport their child to school is always the decision of parents and guardians.”

The French Board, known as Conseil scolaire du Grand Nord, oversees elementary and secondary schools between Sudbury and Thunder Bay – including Écho-des-Rapides Public School here in the Sault.

The AHSTSC is one of four transportation service consortiums that board works with in northern Ontario.

Carole Dubé, the director of communications who has worked with the French board for decades, said she could count on one hand the number of times their schools have been forced to close from bad weather.

“In my history here with the board, I think we’ve closed schools twice,” she said. “The only times I remember we did is because there was no city transportation, so nobody could get to work. If nobody can go around the city, then we have to close the schools.”

“They don’t close because our mandate is to have the education for the kids, and the parents need to have the schools open,” Dubé added. “Kids have to have so many days of school in a school year, and our obligation is to have the schools open unless something major happens.”

Meanwhile, the Algoma & Huron-Superior Transportation Services team and local school bus operators are monitoring weather patterns constantly, according to transportation supervisor Anthony Mannarino.

In an email to SooToday, Mannarino said the AHSTSC utilizes a 12-hour window from 5:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on days when inclement weather is approaching. This window ensures that service can safely be provided for the entire day, he said.

The transportation service will monitor for freezing rain, flash freezing, heavy snow, visibility concerns, poor road conditions and extreme temperatures. The AHSTSC will alert the school boards around 5:50 a.m. if buses won’t be running that day.

“The decision to cancel school bus transportation is made by the Supervisor of the Algoma & Huron-Superior Transportation Services in collaboration with School Bus Operators from each area and forecasts from available weather-related technology,” Mannarino wrote. “The safety of transporting students to/from school is paramount whenever a weather-related decision is made.”

In the 2022-23 school year, the AHSTSC cancelled its school-related transportation four times in the areas of Sault Ste. Marie, Central Algoma, and North Shore, and nine times in the Northern area.

Parents can check for school bus cancellations on school board websites and their social media pages, at local media outlets, or by clicking here.