116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Sleep in on a snowy day? Not Cedar Rapids schools’ transportation manager
At 3 a.m., Scott Wing travels across the district to see if roads are safe
Feb. 3, 2024 5:30 am, Updated: Feb. 5, 2024 8:03 am
CEDAR RAPIDS — When meteorologists call for inclement weather, Cedar Rapids schools transportation manager Scott Wing drives across the city by 3 a.m. to check road conditions.
Snow, ice and fog drives Wing out of bed when most people are sleeping to determine whether road conditions will be “treacherous” for drivers, he said. He goes off the beaten path, staying away from the city’s priority snow routes that are first to be cleared to get a better feel for the overall road conditions.
“We’re deep into the neighborhoods here in Cedar Rapids. Will a 20,000 pound, rear-wheel bus be able to go in any of those conditions?” Wing asked.
The Cedar Rapids Community School District covers over 100 square miles. And weather conditions can vary drastically from one end of the district to another. Wing drives paved, gravel and hilly roads to ensure conditions are safe enough for bus and teenage drivers to get to school.
He drives a district-issued Ford Ranger in two-wheel drive. If he gets stuck in a snowdrift — which he’s come close to only twice in his tenure — he can switch it to four-wheel drive. He knows there’s not a lot of people available to rescue him in the middle of the night.
“If I’m having a lot of problems in two-wheel drive, I know my buses will have problems,” Wing said.
When bad weather threatens, school officials from Cedar Rapids, College Community, Linn-Mar and Marion Independent collaborate about 4:30 a.m. to make like-minded decisions on what the road conditions mean for the school day. Is it a snow day? Will school start with a two-hour delay or have an early out?
School officials also rely on the National Weather Service, which holds interactive webinars about 4:30 a.m. when the weather is questionable, giving them an opportunity to ask about the weather conditions forecast for their area.
“Conditions do change after the decision is made. Those are tough days, but we do our best,” Wing said, adding that it’s better for students to arrive late to school than for a school bus to risk a weather-related crash.
As one of the top five employers in Cedar Rapids with almost 15,000 students, the district faces a big responsibility in keep so many people safe, Wing said.
“Sometimes the forecasts are wrong. None of us own a crystal ball. It’s difficult to get it right,” Wing said.
The decision about whether to delay or cancel school if the area is experiencing extreme cold temperatures are made by the Superintendent’s Office, Wing said. “It’s not a road condition or transportation issue at that point. When we think about wind chill, we’re considering skin exposure in freezing temperatures. If you’ve got someone walking to school, will they be safe?”
Propane-powered school buses — which makes up the majority of the district’s fleet — are able to run at -55 degrees. “We won’t be having school at that temperature, but they will be able to start,” Wing said.
School buses that require diesel fuel begin to struggle at about 15 degrees, Wing said.
Removing snow from school buses isn’t a concern. The bus roofs are curved, so snow “rolls right off the roofs once you start moving them,” Wing said.
Bus drivers typically begin arriving at the Cedar Rapids district offices — the Education Leadership and Support Center in northwest Cedar Rapids — around 5:50 a.m.
During the winter months, the school district’s Transportation Office — which opens at 6 a.m. — fields phone calls from families asking about whether school will be in session that day.
Families also are able to get notifications about weather delays or cancellations by signing up for phone calls, text messages or emails in English, French, Spanish and Swahili. Families can sign up during their annual verification on Infinite Campus, an online student information system.
Meanwhile, the district’s buildings and grounds team begins clearing snow at midnight from school parking lots, said Chad Schumacher, director of operations for the district.
A snowfall of up to 4 inches will take about seven hours for the five-person crew to clear at all locations. “It takes a lot of effort,” Schumacher said.
School custodial staff are responsible for clearing snow from sidewalks and playgrounds. The goal is to have snow and ice removal completed from the district’s 30 school buildings by 7 a.m.
“The No. 1 priority is making sure kids are safe getting to school,” Schumacher said. “We want to do our best to make sure they’re in our buildings, getting the education they deserve.”
Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com
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