5 Regina Catholic School buses stuck in snow Friday

The wheels on the school buses went round and round Friday, but some couldn’t get through the snow on Regina’s residential streets.

Regina Catholic School Division spokesperson Twyla West confirmed five buses going to four different schools got stuck in the snow Friday morning. It was the first day of the week they attempted to get down residential streets following heavy snowfall over the weekend and into Monday.

The buses were on different routes going to École St. Mary’s, St. Gregory School, St. Josephat School and St. Francis School. One of those buses managed to get out of the snow on its own.

“It was a long week, you know four days of having to cancel buses is really unfortunate. So we wanted to be able to get them running today and so we knew we would have some delays,” West explained.

She acknowledged it was a frustrating situation for parents of about 100 students, who had to be driven to school at the last minute. Students who had already been picked up were kept on their bus until they could get on other buses. They all made it safely to their schools before 10 a.m.

While it was a tough morning, West said the first day of running buses after the storm went better than it might have.

“Certainly we’ve been sitting down and talking about what can we do better next time if this comes up. Can we figure out another way to help get kids to school?” she said.

Regina Public School students already had a scheduled day off for a teacher professional development day Friday.

West said she expects both school divisions will likely be sitting down with partners, including the City of Regina, to discuss future options after the snow is gone.

School bus routes are not identified in the priority system for city street clearing. The city released its schedule for a systematic residential snow-clearing starting on Thursday, but some neighbourhoods won’t see a snow plow for two weeks.