Prince George schools will no longer have the option to close in bad winter weather and the school buses will keep running if an update to district policy is approved.
The proposed changes to School District No. 57’s (SD57) winter weather policy was approved in principle at last night’s (Sept. 29) public board meeting, but will be distributed for a 60-day public consultation period before being adopted.
“This was an unresolved policy from way back a year-and-a-half-ago,” said Trustee Betty Bekkering, who sits on the policy and governance committee.
The revised policy is intended to provide clarity on the school operational procedures and expectations regarding staff and student attendance during severe winter weather.
The new policy states that schools will not be closed because of cold or inclement weather and school bus service will not be cancelled because of weather.
The decision to keep a student at home for the day because of winter weather conditions shall be made by the parents.
The policy also states that students will not be expected to wait for a school bus for more than 15 minutes past the scheduled pick-up time. If the bus has not arrived by that time, students should return home or another prearranged place of shelter.
Bekkering says the revised policy is very clear and concise in that it states the decision to keep a student at home for the day because of winter weather conditions should be made by the parent.
The previous policy stated that if "attendance is reduced substantially because of cold or inclement weather conditions or because travel is considered treacherous, regular scheduled instructions may be modified for those students who attend school."
“The old regulations say individual bus runs may be cancelled for the day, morning and afternoon runs because of dangerous road conditions and cancellations will be announced on local radio as soon as possible. What we are adding clarity to is that students can go to the bus stop but they do not need to wait longer than 15 minutes and can turn home so they aren’t standing out there forever.”
After some discussion, the board also decided that the changes were significant enough for the revised policy to be distributed for a 60-day public consultation, which means it won’t come back to the board table until the January 2021 board meeting.
“As I sit on the committee with Trustee Bekkering, I think this is a clear concise easy to follow common sense approach to winter weather and I fully support these changes,” said Trustee Ron Polilo, who also supported the 60-day consultation period.
