Chinook's Edge School Division will now close its schools in the event of extreme weather conditions like the blizzard that pounded the region at the beginning of December, say officials.
“This is a new direction for the school division,” said Kurt Sacher, the division's superintendent of schools. “They may close a single school, or an area of schools and they may close schools across the division when there is extreme weather.
“What is motivating this is safety,” he added. “It is safety for staff. It is safety for students and safety for parents.”
In the past Chinook's Edge has not closed its schools during extreme weather conditions but Sacher said the December 1 and 2 snowstorm that swept through the region and left 20 centimetres of snow and bone-chilling cold triggered a thoughtful discussion on the issue between himself and the board at its meeting on Dec. 11.
He said the “new direction” is not a policy change and that there has been an administrative procedure in place that allowed the superintendent to close schools on rare circumstances but it was “never” exercised in the past.
At the end of the discussion with the board of education members, Sacher received the support he needed to close schools in the future on extreme weather days when travelling is deemed unsafe for everyone and buses aren't running.
“There are times when we get extreme weather, like a blizzard, where schools are open and we have teachers who don't live in the town of the school and they feel so guilty that their students and colleagues are there,” said Sacher.
“What we have found over the years is that even though we tell them please don't drive -- you don't have to drive, don't take the risk -- we still have teachers who feel guilty and they end up taking unnecessary risks just to travel to work.”
He noted there are many teachers who may live in Olds but will travel 40 kilometres to get to work in Sundre, or live in Red Deer and travel in hazardous driving conditions to Delburne.
“The other thing that happens is when schools are open we end up with parents taking risks to drive their kids into school. We are concerned about their safety,” said Sacher. “And at the high school level we end up with conscientious high school students, if the buses are not running, wanting to drive in and they take a risk.
“What we are looking at is that if it is really bad, those extreme conditions like a blizzard, is closing the school and saying, ‘Everybody, just stay home on a day like that and don't drive',” he added.
In the meantime, the board will still continue its longstanding policy of cancelling rural bus service if weather conditions are severe.
“When it is not safe to travel our buses won't travel. That won't change,” said Sacher. “What will be new is that schools will actually be closed and we won't be expecting students and we also won't be expecting staff to show up on those extreme weather days.”
He said the school division will also do its best to make sure there is a staff member at each closed site to deal with any student or staff member that shows up.
“In most of our schools we can do that,” said Sacher. “We have a few that are so isolated that we can't make guarantees and we will communicate that with the public.”
