Due to the extremely cold weather last week, both the Chinook's Edge School Division and the Red Deer Regional Catholic Schools rural routes did not run buses on Wednesday.Horizon School did not run buses all last week due to a higher temperature cut-off than other buses, explained Bruce Wagner, CESD's transportation director.ìHorizon School Ö have a different temperature cut-off line and it's because of the wheelchair access. Those buses get chilled off very quickly and they don't warm up then Ö so there's been no bus service this week,î he said, noting that for Horizon, no buses run after the air temperature reaches -25 C.On Thursday, buses in the Sundre area were cancelled as the temperature reached lows of -38 to -40 C.The CESD has a policy that buses will not run across the division once the mercury hits -35 C or the wind chill reaches -40 C.ìAt that point, frostbite is possible in 10 minutes, and it's about 10 minutes that a kid can be reasonably expected to wait for a bus. So we don't want kids waiting past the danger point,î he said.Wagner said he monitors the weather constantly, using official Environment Canada readings or transportation coordinators in various places the division has schools.ìIt's interesting. Between Red Deer and Airdrie, you can get a big temperature change, but that's all the same school division Ö so I'll phone the coordinators in Carstairs, Cremona, Sundre and see what the temperatures are there, because it can vary quite a bit,î he said.Wagner stressed that while transportation is a service the division offers its rural students, parents still must make a decision when the temperature drops on whether or not to send their children on the bus.ìThat's an important thing. Sometimes the difference between a high school student and a kindergarten student at -33, you might decide that it's good enough for a high school student to be waiting out there but you might not want a kindergarten kid (waiting),î he said.Red Deer Regional Catholic Schools cancel buses once the temperature reaches -40 C or in instances where the temperature is -30 C or colder and the combination of temperature and wind chill is -40 C or less.
