Grand Erie Prepares for Winter with Inclement Weather Reminders

With the first glimpse of snow this year, Grand Erie District School Board is reminding students and families of how the Board deals with inclement weather.

“While we typically average just one or two snow days a year, last winter Grand Erie had seven of them,” said Brenda Blancher, Director of Education. “While we hope last year was an anomaly, we feel it’s important for our community to understand how the Board responds when Mother Nature throws snow, ice or freezing rain at us.”

Grand Erie’s Inclement Weather Policy (FT7), found on the board’s website here, was updated in May 2019. The policy outlines the procedures for the cancellation of transportation services, which typically triggers school closures – either by zone or across the whole district.

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 school 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 at each of the three area school boards.

“Our focus is always on the safety and well-being of our students,” said Rafal Wyszynski, Grand Erie’s Superintendent of Business. “The decision to cancel student transportation is made when we believe the forecasted road conditions will not allow for the safe delivery of services during the morning or afternoon travel times when we have thousands of our students on buses all across Grand Erie. Transportation is also cancelled when visibility is expected to be significantly impacted.”

When student transportation services are cancelled due to inclement weather, there are two options: closure of all Grand Erie schools or closure by zone. Grand Erie has four zones: Norfolk County (Zone 1), Haldimand County (Zone 2), Brant County (Zone 3) and City of Brantford (Zone 4). Zone 2 includes Grand Erie students from Six Nations of the Grand River and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

When student transportation services are cancelled due to inclement weather, Grand Erie schools are closed to all students and staff.

The decision to cancel student transportation services due to inclement weather is made by 6:30 a.m. If Grand Erie schools are closed, the decision will be posted on the board’s website (www.granderie.ca), Twitter account (@GEDSB) and shared with local media. STSBHN will also communicate the decision to riders, post on Twitter (@STSBHN) and share on their phone line (519-751-7532, ext. 7).

“We understand the decision to close schools puts enormous pressure on parents who have to scramble for last-minute child care,” said Blancher. “However, the safety and well-being of our more than 25,000 students must remain our focus. We don’t want to see any of our students injured or put in harm’s way.”

New to Grand Erie’s Inclement Weather Policy in 2019-20 is 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 negatively impacts the operation of buses. Extreme cold weather in Grand Erie’s Inclement Weather policy 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.

Grand Erie District School Board represents more than 25,000 students in 58 elementary and 14 secondary schools within the City of Brantford and the Counties of Brant, Haldimand, and Norfolk.

Healthy Bites Success for Graham Bell-Victoria Students

Graham Bell-Victoria School has been presented with a GOLD award of recognition and achievement in the Healthy Bites Program. The staff and students have worked hard and enjoyed the “fruits” of their labour as they have now been recognized with GOLD!

Throughout the year, Sonia Martin, school health nurse with the Brant County Health Unit, has lead our staff and students in a variety of healthy eating awareness activities. These included a Mystery Fruit and Vegetable contest, a trivia question in the monthly newsletter, and healthy fruit and vegetable snacks every Friday. These tasty treats, prepared by the grade 4-5 class were a big hit and helped us learn about the benefits of eating healthy.

Next year the program will be expanded to Healthy Steps and Healthy Bites, a program in which we will learn about and practice healthy eating and healthy activity. Congratulations, Graham Bell!

Voluntary Aboriginal Self-Identification

The Grand Erie District School Board recognizes the importance of school success for Aboriginal students. Our dedicated staff members are committed to improving services and programs for Aboriginal students attending school in the Board.

With a goal to improve the school experience for all Aboriginal students, the Board encourages the development of strong partnerships with Aboriginal families, communities and organizations, both on and off the reserve.

Through the Voluntary Aboriginal Self-Identification process, Aboriginal parents and students will have access to additional support services, including educational, social, and emotional supports that focus and foster Aboriginal identity, culture and values.

There are three categories of Voluntary Aboriginal Self-Identification – First Nation, Métis, or Inuit.

Your child may bring a GEDSB Voluntary Aboriginal Self-Identification form home or if not, you can contact your child’s school to receive a form. You can also, visit the Aboriginal Education section under the Program tab at www.granderie.ca for more information and a copy of the Voluntary Self-Identification form.