By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
WASHBURN, Maine — Students in SAD 45 ended up with their Christmas vacation being extended by two days as subzero temperatures last Thursday and Friday made it impossible for the school buses to operate. School was to resume Jan. 2.
“When I left home Thursday morning it was 33 below in Presque Isle,” said Superintendent Ed Buckley. “By the time I got to Washburn it was 40 below. It gets very cold in Washburn because we’re down by the river.
“The diesel fuel in the buses would gel and we couldn’t keep them running,” he said. “We had the same issue Friday, so school was cancelled both days.”
Buckley said SAD 45 does not have a bus garage and the vehicles are parked outside.
“Presque Isle and Caribou have garages, but Washburn doesn’t,” he said. “It would be too expensive for our district, so we have to leave them outside. Sometimes the weather makes it difficult for our buses to run.”
The district has five active buses, with another five used for backups.
Buckley said last Thursday and Friday were treated as storm days and will be made up in June.
