The grinding cold will bring school buses to a halt Wednesday morning with both the St. Albert Catholic School board and Sturgeon School division cancelling their buses.
Carol Bruineman, spokesperson for Greater St. Albert Catholic, said the division felt with the extreme cold predicted for Wednesday morning they had no other choice.
“With the weather forecast and the risk of frostbite within such a short timeframe we just felt it was safer.”
Environment Canada issued a wind chill warning Tuesday with temperatures expected to dip into the minus 30s overnight pushing wind chill values into the minus 40s all the way into Wednesday morning.
The deep chills could cause frostbite within minutes to any exposed skin and Bruineman said that raised a safety concern for students who would wait even a short time for the bus.
Bruineman said the school board had implemented a call-out service to parents Tuesday night so no one would be waiting for the bus on Wednesday.
Sturgeon School division also cancelled its Wednesday morning buses citing the extreme weather.
Both divisions said despite the bus cancellations the schools would remain open for students.
Bruineman said Tuesday night the board had not yet decided on busing for Wednesday afternoon.
St. Albert Protestant School Board spokesperson Paula Power said Tuesday evening they planned to have their buses in service, but given the cold it was possible some or even many of those buses would have mechanical problems.
She said they were encouraging parents to have back-up arrangements in place.
