School buses in Markham and across York Region stayed parked on Tuesday, Jan. 6, because of expected freezing rain, one day after the region's two school boards began testing a new way of deciding where buses are cancelled in bad weather.

Student transportation was cancelled in all York Region student transportation zones for the day, for both the York Region District School Board and the York Catholic District School Board. Schools remained open.

The new two-area pilot

Beginning Jan. 5, Student Transportation Services of York Region, which runs buses and taxis for both boards, is piloting the use of two service areas for weather cancellations, divided at Ravenshoe Road.

  • Georgina Service Area: north of and including Ravenshoe Road, covering Georgina.

  • South Service Area: south of Ravenshoe Road, covering Markham, Richmond Hill, Vaughan, Aurora, Newmarket, King, East Gwillimbury and Whitchurch-Stouffville.

Under the pilot, buses can be cancelled across the whole region or in just one of the two areas.

The YRDSB says that when a service area is cancelled, all bus and taxi routes serving schools in that area will not operate, and all bus stops in that area will not be served, even for students who attend school in the other area. Families are asked to know which area both their child's school and their bus stop fall in. For most Markham families, both will be in the South Service Area.

The YRDSB says it will update families at the end of the pilot. The York Catholic board says it will continue to give families information on the morning of an inclement weather day.

What a cancellation day means

On Jan. 6, the York Catholic board told families that schools were open. Its notice also said:

  • Elementary hot lunch programs were cancelled and secondary cafeterias were closed.

  • Exams, tests, quizzes, excursions and co-curricular activities were cancelled.

  • Evening presentations and parent meetings, including IPRC meetings, were cancelled.

  • In-person continuing education classes were cancelled, while remote classes went ahead.

  • Buses would not run in the afternoon because transportation was cancelled in the morning.

Before- and after-school child care programs could open or close early at the discretion of their operators. Parents were asked to report absences through the board's safe arrival system.