Sixty Prince William Buses Experience Delays due to Cold

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Numerous Prince William County school buses experienced problems starting due to the extreme cold Wednesday morning, causing them to arrive late to their stops.

“Approximately 60 did not start immediately or exhibited other mechanical problems,” said Phil Kavits, Director of Communications for Prince William County Schools.

Kavits noted that, “The vast bus fleet operated on time and without difficulty this morning.”

The 60 school buses that experienced difficulty only accounted for 5 percent of the total fleet, meaning that by large margins, most students arrived to school on time.

Kavits said the 5 percent rate is approximately three times the number of mechanical problems their bus fleet experiences in a given warm weather day, but that it “is not all unusual for periods of extreme cold.

School buses, which run on diesel fuel, often suffer difficulties during periods of extreme cold. In fact, Wednesday’s news is rife with stories of late school buses in districts from Illinois down to Florida.

Whereas the school system desires to make parents aware of issues and concerns affecting their children, Kavits explained that morning transportation issues, occurring sporadically as they do, are especially challenging to announce.

“The cold and related issues led to isolated instances of bus delays across the division, but the very nature of those kinds of problems make it very difficult to provide any kind of timely alerts,” he said.

In addition to transportation problems, Kavits said there are also, “scattered cold-related problems at schools.” These include broken pipes and cold rooms. However, he said, by and large, the Prince William County students are experiencing a normal school day.

Prince William County canceled school on Tuesday on account of “Polar Vortex” cold sweeping the nation, which resulted in temperatures beginning at 9 degrees in the morning and rising to 20 by the afternoon. Yet on the second day of frigid temperatures, school was neither delayed nor canceled.

Other local school divisions, including Fairfax and Stafford, perhaps expecting transportation issues, delayed their morning opening.

Kavits said the administration deemed Wednesday safe for students to attend school even in the early morning hours.

“This morning's combination of warmer temperatures, and the lack of the winds that created wind-chill dangers yesterday, made it safe to open and operate schools on time. As always, the safety of our students and staff drove all decisions,” Kavits said.

On the Our Schools Facebook page and the Prince William County Education Reform Facebook page, Neabsco School Board representative Lisa Bell thanked Prince William School Bus drivers for their efforts.

I want to send out a HUGE "THANK YOU" to our Transportation staff, including our Bus Drivers. I am aware some were under the impression we were going to have a delay. Thank you for scrambling to find drivers, rework routes, repairing broken down busses, fielding the mega amount of calls this morning, and braving the cold temperatures to ready our busses for our students. As many of you know, my Mom was a bus driver for almost 20 years and I know the dedication without thanks that never come. Today and everyday, I am grateful for your hard work and your compassion for our students!

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