Question for Canada residents: School closings

Here in the States, schools get canceled due to nasty weather.

But in Canada ... am I getting this right? ... In nasty weather, schools don't close, but the *buses* stay garaged?  Is that how it works?

Schools stay open, but it becomes the parents' responsibility to get the crumbcrunchers to school?

Buses don't run when weather conditions are considered too extreme. It's a safety decision, with hazardous road conditions and extreme cold/blizzard factoring in. A bus crashed or stranded full of kids, with limited access by emergency services, is bad business. The calculus for that likely varies by province, and the decision is made by individual school boards.

Parents can't always take time off and stay home with kids on a "snow day." They are welcome to drop kids off, or kids that are close by will bundle up and walk, but attendance is not mandatory. For staff, it's considered a regular work day, and the schools remain open. Not all staff will make it to work, but there are enough to keep kids safe and occupied.

Usually, a "snow day" is pretty much a write-off in terms of covering any new material in the curriculum. Students who do make it to school are encouraged to read, work on special projects, play games, have some gym time.

>> attendance is not mandatory.


Ah ha!  I did not know that part.

Thanks for the excellent explanation.

G

Yeah, a stranded bus in extreme cold would be terrible. I remember when I was a kid, sometimes in bad weather some of the rural busses would get stuck and have to wait for a plow. They'd be an hour or two late. It doesn't generally get all that cold where I live, so it wasn't a big deal. Lower the temperature by 20° or more, and it could get bad.

We never had a snow day when I was in school 😢 If it looks like you might get two feet overnight, you just get up earlier. We always had the radio on in the mornings while everyone got ready for work or school, and I always listened enviously to the announcements of school closures on the Lower Mainland, where it's chaos if they get even a tiny bit of snow.