With Winter Weather Looming, Grand Erie Reminding Families of Inclement-Weather Plans

MONDAY, NOV. 27, 2023

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s temperatures dip below freezing this week, Grand Erie District School Board is reminding families of its operational plans for dealing with hazardous winter weather.

"The decision to cancel transportation is not taken lightly, and the safety of our students is always the top priority,” said JoAnna Roberto, Director of Education. "With winter right around the corner, we want to be clear with families about how decisions are made and where they can find up-to-date information when they need it."

What you need to know:

• The decision to cancel school or student transportation services for the day is made by 6:30 a.m.
• There are two cancellation options: closure of all Grand Erie schools or closure by zone. If the cancellation is for a specific zone, the notifications will identify which zone(s).
• If there is a cancellation, it will be posted on the board’s website, and X (Twitter) account (@GEDSB). Grand Erie will also share the information with local media.
• Student Transportation Services Brant Haldimand Norfolk will also communicate closures on its X (Twitter) account (@STSBHN) and share information via its phone line (519-751-7532). 

Student Transportation Services Brant Haldimand Norfolk (STSBHN) provides transportation services for Grand Erie students as well as those from the local Catholic and French Catholic boards. During the winter months, STSBHN gathers information on road and weather conditions from various sources, including City and County road crews as well as weather specialists. These road and weather conditions are then discussed with the Superintendents of Business Services and Directors of Education at each of the three school boards prior to reaching a decision.

Grand Erie’s Inclement Weather Procedure also allows for the option to cancel transportation services when there is extreme cold weather. In this case, student transportation services would be cancelled; however, all Grand Erie schools would remain open to students and staff. Extreme cold weather is defined as -30 degrees Celsius (without wind-chill) at 5 a.m. or a high risk of frostbite (10 minutes or less) as of 5:45 a.m. 

For transportation purposes, Grand Erie is organized into four zones:

• Norfolk County (Zone 1)
• Haldimand County (Zone 2)
• Brant County (Zone 3)
• City of Brantford (Zone 4)

Grand Erie students from Six Nations of the Grand River and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation are included in Zone 2. Information is being sent home through students to all families identifying which zone they are in.

During days when wintry weather necessitates closures, students will be provided with asynchronous learning opportunities, posted by their classroom teachers and accessed via Brightspace. Work completed during these days would serve as a review and not be evaluated.

Happy “new year”! I hope everyone had a pleasant summer holiday. It’s been nice to talk to students and parents this week about all the things you’ve done over the past two months. I’ve heard lots of stories of fun trips and relaxation. I’ve also heard a few about some more stressful experiences that life seems to always present. Whatever the past 2 months brought for you, I’m looking forward to working together again as a Boston School Family to support each other. September brings the opportunity for fresh starts and lots of reason for optimism. Each and every student is full of potential, and on a pathway that is their own unique success story (always in progress)!

This year you’ll notice that the staff is mostly the same with a few exceptions. Mrs. Huffman is off this year with her new baby. We would like to welcome Ms. Agius, who has joined us to teach the 3/4 class. We are excited to have her back as part of the Boston team! We would also like to welcome Mrs. Trembley as our new custodian. We are all in good hands with her making sure the building is in good shape!

On the first day, we had a Welcome-Back Assembly in which we committed to two very simple things this year: 1) We will always do our best

2) We will always be kind

I believe those two simple statements can guide every decision we make every day, and I’ve asked every Blazer to consider them when they are making choices.

Once again, welcome to a new school year. It’s good to be back!