School divisions in and around Regina cancel bus routes Tuesday morning due to extreme cold

School departments in and around Regina announced Tuesday morning that school buses would not run as most of the southern half of the province was under an extreme cold warning.

Environment Canada issued an extreme cold warning for the city of Regina just after 5 a.m. CST Tuesday, stating that the wind chill was expected to feel like -40 to -50 degrees.

The temperature in Regina at 6 a.m. CST was −33°C with the wind chill feeling like −46, according to the national weather agency.

Regina Public Schools have canceled all student transportation due to the low temperatures and chilling winds, a spokesman said in a statement to the news media. School district policy is to cancel special buses with wheelchair lifts if the wind chill falls below -40C and all transportation if the wind chill is colder than -46C.

Regina Catholic schools also canceled transportation Tuesday, but the schools remained open, the school district said on social media.

The Prairie Valley School Division, which serves a large area outside of Regina, also canceled school bus routes for students at certain schools Tuesday morning because of the cold weather. According to a statement released to the news media on Tuesday, the buses should still be running in the afternoon.

The schools affected are:

• Balgonie Elementary School.
• Balcarres Community School.
• Clive Draycott School in Bethune, Sask.
• Cupar school.
• Edenwold School.
• Elementary school of the municipality of Fort Qu’Appelle.
• Stweart Nicks School in Grand Coulee, Sask.
• Indian Head Elementary and High Schools.
• Kelliher school.
• Nordtal Gymnasium in Lviv, Sask.
• Lumsden Elementary and High School.
• McLean school.
• milestone school.
• Montmartre school.
• Nordtal elementary school in Neudorf, Sask.
• pense school.
• Pilot Butte School.
• James Hamblin School in Qu’Appelle, Sask.
• South Shore School in Regina Beach, Sask.
• Sedley school.
• Robert Southey School in Southey, Sask.
• Vibank Regional School.
• School of the École White City.
• Wolseley High School.

The statement said another notice would go out around 1 p.m. CST if the buses are unable to run Tuesday afternoon.

Environment Canada issued extreme cold warnings for most of the southern half of Saskatchewan, from The Battlefords-Unity-Maidstone-St. Walburg area to Yorkton-Melville-Esterhazy area and everywhere south from there.