GREEN, Ohio — While this week is warmer than last, one Northeast Ohio district had yet another day off from school after experiencing issues with some of its buses.
Monday morning, the Green Local School District announced on its website that classes would be canceled for the day due to "unforeseen mechanical issues" with its bus fleet.
"Combined with forecasted temperatures, these mechanical failures would result in significant delays and force our students to wait outdoors for an unsafe period of time," the district said.
Over the past couple of weeks, students across the state have had a mini winter break as temperatures have remained frigid and snowfall has been consistent. However, with the influx of school closures, calamity days have been piling up.
Monday was no different for Green parent Brittany Marshall, who just started a new job. But instead of going to work, she spent the day at the library with her 6-year-old daughter.
Hours earlier, Marshall thought her 7th-grade son was joking when he told her school had been canceled for yet another day.
"He comes downstairs, and he's like, 'Mom, school is canceled,'" Marshall said. "I'm like, 'What?' And it's like 5:45, so now I'm like, what am I gonna do? My daughter is in kindergarten."
For Green Local Schools, Monday marked their sixth calamity day, and it is starting to take a toll on some families.
"My husband missed three days last week because of the snow, and he's like, 'Babe, I can't miss anymore. I'm out of vacation time,'" Marshall said.
However, this time, it was not the snow or sub-zero temperatures that prevented Green students from going to school—it was at least four buses that would not start because their batteries were dead. It was a result of the frigid temperatures this past weekend.
"It just wasn't happening and the longer you wait to see if it will happen, then that's adding more time that the kids possibly would have to be out in this cold," District Spokesperson Julie McMahan said.
She said that rerouting the available buses would have resulted in some kids waiting an extra 15 to 30 minutes out in the cold Monday morning, so the district made the decision to cancel.
"I think the safety factor is one that parents, they might not like, but will definitely understand," McMahan said.
But Marshall said she is upset with the belated cancellation.
"I am frustrated that it was last-minute," Marshall said. "I am frustrated that they waited until this morning to tell us that the buses weren't working."
The buses were kept outside because the old bus garage is set to be torn down in a couple of months, and construction is going on in the area. The new bus garage will open this summer and will house 60 buses.
Maintenance crews worked to restore power to the dead batteries, getting the buses back up and running for Tuesday.
Even though the district has used half a dozen calamity days, McMahan said it still has several hours available to use if more days off are needed.
"We have something like 95, we have about 95 hours left of time that could be used for calamity," McMahan said.
As for Marshall, she said parents like her could use a break from the call-offs and is hoping the buses are good to go.
"I'm hoping I can go to work," Marshall said. "I'm hoping that they figure out what was going on with the buses."
Green families can check the latest school closure information by CLICKING HERE.
