ST. LOUIS – More than 100 schools called off Tuesday due to the extreme cold and road conditions, and some have already canceled classes again for Wednesday.
School districts on both sides of the river have yet to decide if they will be back in the classroom Wednesday as they deal with frigid bus stops and early morning driving conditions for young drivers.
Belleville School Township District 201 Superintendent Dr. Brian Mentzer says it’s about keeping students and staff warm and safe.
“It came down to two things. It came down to transportation and the accuracy…of our bus routes for tomorrow,” he said. “And, obviously, being the district of two high schools, we have young drivers on the road in the mornings. Those are the main points of consideration we think about for having an e-learning day.”
Although it’s expected to warm up Wednesday, temperatures drop again the rest of the week, so districts are planning ahead.
“It does appear that (Wednesday) will be a regular day, regular start, (and) regular end time. And then we’re monitoring what is going on and what it looks like at the end of the week, but we’re hopeful that we’re going to be in person all week,” Mentzer said.
The Northwest R1 School District released the following statement on how snow days are used:
In the event of inclement weather, the Northwest R-I School District will use our five Alternative Method of Instruction (AMI) days as allotted by the Missouri Department of Secondary and Elementary Education before calling for a traditional snow day. We used our first AMI day for the 2023-24 school year today.
Meanwhile, the job of keeping the school buses running during winter weather grows more challenging for drivers. The Parkway School District has 150 buses for 10,000 students on a regular school day. The workers make sure the buses are warmed up before the drivers arrive. They’re also using engine block heaters to help with the morning launch.
“When it drops below 20 degrees (Fahrenheit) we’re not only concerned about getting our buses started and warmed up, not only for the drivers but for the kids…so it’s a comfortable ride,” Will Rosa, director of transportation for the Parkway School District, said.
