Frigid conditions in the forecast have prompted all divisions in Winnipeg to cancel school buses Thursday. All seven divisions in the city are affected and won't be providing bus service, including the Winnipeg School Division, St. James-Assiniboia, Pembina Trails, Louis-Riel, Seven Oaks, River East-Transcona and the Division scolaire franco-manitobaine "The extreme cold weather sustained over several days has had an impact on our fleets for all Winnipeg school divisions," said Winnipeg School Division spokesperson Radean Carter said in an email Wednesday afternoon. Despite buses not running, schools will be open and classes are in session as usual, Carter added. CBC Manitoba meteorologist John Sauder forecasts 20 kilometre-an-hour winds and temperatures of –30 C as of 8 a.m. Thursday. Clouds are expected to roll in as the temperature rises to about –23 C in the afternoon. More from CBC Manitoba:<doc-sep>Send this page to someone via email As the extreme cold spell continues, students in the seven metro Winnipeg school divisions will have to find a different route to get to class Thursday. Ted Fransen, Superintendent of Education for Pembina Trails School Division, speaking on behalf of all metro divisions, said Wednesday afternoon that a decision had been made to cancel bus service across the city for the following day. That means buses will not be running in Pembina Trails, Seven Oaks, River East Transcona, Louis Riel, St. James-Assiniboia, Winnipeg, and Franco-manitoban (DSFM) school divisions on Jan. 31. READ MORE: School and other cancellations in southern Manitoba for Wednesday “The six of us get together every morning when we have anticipated cold weather (via technology of course) … and we closely monitor the Environment Canada wind chill factor and temperature as reported from at The Forks. Today it was -43 at The Forks, and so within our policy, buses continued to run.” Story continues below advertisement Buses did run Wednesday, but not without incident. “We evaluated today, how the morning had gone,” Fransen said. “Some of our buses across the city had mechanical issues.” Schools in several divisions reported buses being well behind schedule in picking students up for school. “That worries us, we are very very concerned about student safety and that was part of our debriefing today.” Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "That worries us, we are very very concerned about student safety and that was part of our debriefing today." Fransen said they decided to pull bus services for Thursday after noting that temperatures were again expected to be in the ‘cancellation’ range, and given the challenges experienced on Wednesday. “We made a preemptive decision in anticipation of another day, that if anything, there would be even more challenges with our buses that we just want to keep our kids safe.” Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We made a preemptive decision in anticipation of another day, that if anything, there would be even more challenges with our buses that we just want to keep our kids safe." Schools, however, will remain open. River East Transcona School Division sent out a note via social media advising parents of the pre-emptive cancellation of school bus service. Submitted Story continues below advertisement When asked if the policy to allow bus service in temperatures as low as -45 would be reconsidered in light of the issues experienced this week, Fransen said they are open to the idea. “We’re always open to new information,” he said. ‘In terms of ‘will we re-evaluate it?’, if there is new information, we will absolutely re-evaluate it.” WATCH: Transcona parents say un-plowed streets put school students in danger 1:45 Transcona parents say un-plowed streets put school students in danger Transcona parents say un-plowed streets put school students in danger – Jan 8, 2019<doc-sep>Send this page to someone via email Share this item on Twitter Share this item via WhatsApp Share this item on Facebook CANCELLATIONS FOR TUESDAY, JANUARY 29 WINNIPEG SCHOOL DIVISIONS: The six school divisions in Winnipeg use Environment Canada as its benchmark. There needs to be a -45 windchill at 6 o’clock before anything gets cancelled. Today the windchill was -43 so all school buses are running. SCHOOLS: All schools in the Pine Creek School Division are closed. All schools in the Rolling River School Division are closed. No buses running outside of Brandon in the Brandon School Division. All schools in the Turtle Mountain School Division are closed. All schools in the Southwest School Division are closed. Story continues below advertisement Classes cancelled in the Seine River School Division, teachers reporting to work. No buses running for Black River School in Frontier School Division. School is open and teachers are to report to work. Buses in the Portage la Prairie School Division are not running. This includes in-town busing. All schools within the city of Portage la Prairie are open; however Oakville School and the Hutterian Schools are closed today. Sunrise School Division. No buses running. Students are not expected to report to class. But teachers and staff are expected to report to work. No school in Lord Selkirk School Division. Staff expected to report to work. All school buses for Winnipeg Mennonite Elementary and Middle Schools are cancelled. But classes are open. All schools in the Prairie Rose School Division are closed. Staff should stay home. All schools in the Border Land School Division are closed. Staff expected to report to work. Transportation is cancelled but school is open at Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute. Calvin Christian School: the Country bus cancelled, shuttle bus still running. Red River Valley School Division. All Schools are closed due to the wind chill but staff are expected to report to work. Story continues below advertisement Classes cancelled in the Western School Division. Classes cancelled in the Interlake School Division. All schools in the Evergreen School Division are closed. All schools in the Lakeshore School Division are closed. Sergeant Tommy Prince School is closed. All schools in the Garden Valley School Division are closed. Buses not running for DSFM. Schools inside the city are open while schools outside the city are closed. OTHER CANCELLATIONS: Children of the Universe Learning Centre in Ste. Anne is closed. All transportation to adult day programs in the city of Winnipeg for individuals in the CLDS program is cancelled due to the extreme cold. Programs will remain open if individuals have an alternative method of getting to them. Beasejour Kids Centre is closed. Hand in Hand Day Care Inc in Selkirk is closed. Happy Time Nursery in Beasejour is closed. Springfield Tiny Tots in Oakbank is closed. Story continues below advertisement WASO Transportation and Day Programs are closed. Faith Children’s Centre in St. Vital will not be walking any children to or from school. Four Feathers head start program is closed. Options, Pathways & Transitions: transportation is cancelled but program open. Dugald Daycare School Age Program is closed. Preschool Program is open. 1st LaSalle Guiding Unit snowshoeing event is cancelled.<doc-sep>Send this page to someone via email A Winnipeg School Division (WSD) trustee says significant cutbacks are possible for next school year, and limited funding from the Manitoba government is to blame. On Thursday, Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen said the province will be boosting funding to public elementary and high schools by just half a percentage point, or $6.6 million, and capping school property tax increases at two per cent. While the province calls it an increase, school boards say the education budget actually amounts to a cut in funding to local schools. While overall funding is increasing by $6.6 million, more than half of all school boards – including the Winnipeg School Division, the province’s biggest – will see a slight decrease this year due to declining enrollment and other factors. Story continues below advertisement WSD Ward 3 trustee Mark Wasyliw said the rate of increase promised by the province doesn’t match the rate of inflation. “Our costs keep going up every year and we get less and less money from the province,” Wasyliw said Friday. Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Our costs keep going up every year and we get less and less money from the province," Wasyliw said Friday. Wasyliw said to make up for the shortfall, the division is either going to have to cut programs and staff, or raise property taxes. “We have to make up that money somehow,” he said. “We either have to raise property taxes substantially, past two per cent, or we have to make larger class sizes, which means hiring less teachers, or we have to cut programs that people love like our nursery program, or full day kindergarten, or we have to look at getting rid of the school resource officer program.” The education minister argues the funding is reasonable. Goertzen said the province’s wage freeze on teachers and staff will help control costs, as salaries account for roughly 80 per cent of all education expenses. View image in full screen Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen speaks to reporters inside his office after Thursday’s education funding announcement. Joe Scarpelli/Global News “This is the highest level of funding in Manitoba history. That shows our commitment to Manitoba students despite our current economic realities,” Goertzen said in a news release. Story continues below advertisement “Since 2016, our government has increased funding to school divisions by more than $26 million.” Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Since 2016, our government has increased funding to school divisions by more than $26 million." Wasyliw said the WSD Board of Trustees will sit down over the next few weeks to discuss what the divisions next steps will be.<doc-sep>
Send this page to someone via email CANCELLATIONS FOR THURSDAY, JANUARY 31 WINNIPEG SCHOOL DIVISIONS: The six school divisions in Winnipeg use Environment Canada as their benchmark. There needs to be a -45 windchill at The Forks at 6 o’clock before anything gets cancelled. However, Superintendent of Education Ted Fransen announced Wednesday afternoon that all buses in city divisions will be pre-emptively cancelled for Thursday. Schools remain open, but buses will be off the road in the Pembina Trails, Seven Oaks, River East Transcona, Louis Riel, St. James-Assiniboia, Winnipeg, and St. Boniface divisions. This also affects DSFM buses with the exception of the Saint-Lazare region. OTHER SCHOOLS Buses have also been cancelled for Faith Academy and King’s School, however schools remain open and classes are scheduled like normal. Story continues below advertisement Classes cancelled in regions 2 and 3 of the Sunrise School Division. Staff still expected to report to work. All schools in Lakeshore School Division are closed. Calvin Christian School – no country bus, no shuttle bus but classes are still scheduled. All schools closed in Border Land School Division. Staff are expected to report to work. No buses running for Winnipeg Mennonite Elementary and Middle Schools. OTHER CANCELLATIONS All transportation to adult day programs in the city of Winnipeg for individuals in the Community Living DisAbility Services (Dept. of Families) is cancelled due to the extreme cold. Programs will remain open if individuals have an alternative method of getting to them. WASO transportation and day program are closed. Options, Pathways & Transitions transportation is cancelled but programs are open.