SNOW CONDITIONS AND CLOSURES - School schedules and school bus transportation may be changed on short notice as winter ice and snow conditions begin to impact our area.

When conditions are severe, all announcements regarding school closures, delays or changes in transportation will be made over the following radio stations: KGMI (AM 790), KARI (AM 550), KPUG (AM 1170), KAFE (FM 104.1). Please tune to these stations if you have reason to believe that there may be a school closure or changes in the transportation schedule. The radio stations will repeat the school closures frequently. Also KOMO 4, KING 5, KIRO 7, AND KCPQ 13 TV STATIONS will carry the closures.

Information may also be found on the Blaine School District website: www.blainesd.org or by calling the snow information line at: 332-0789.

If there are no announcements on the radio or TV, you may assume that school is open on time and buses are on normal routes. During inclement weather, buses may run behind schedule. You may call the Transportation Department at 332-8933, but bear in mind that phone lines will be very busy and your best first choice is to tune to a radio station for current updates.

The Blaine School District would like to thank you for your cooperation and flexibility during inclement weather conditions and take this opportunity to remind parents to:

• Dress students appropriately knowing that they may have to wait longer than usual for the bus.
• Bear in mind that bus schedules may run late due to changing driving conditions.
• Allow for short notice schedule changes and late buses.
• Remind their children to be especially cautious while walking to the school bus stop during hours of darkness and inclement weather.
• Remind their children to wait well off of the roadway for the bus during icy and dark conditions.

SNOW ROUTES - If snow routes are announced for the day, buses will not run on Deer Trail, Sweet Road hill, and other steep unsanded hills at the discretion of the driver. Students should assume the bus is not coming up their hill and meet at a safe place at the bottom. Students on Deer Trail should meet at Deer Trail and Birch Bay Drive at 7:25 AM / 8:25 AM. Students on Sweet Road hill should meet at Molers Lane and Sweet Road at 7:30 AM. Students at Drayton Cove Gate, Boundary Ridge Gate, and the Semiahmoo Marina should meet at Semiahmoo Parkway and Semiahmoo Drive at 7:05 AM and 8:10 AM.

LIMITED TRANSPORTATION WITH ROAD CLOSURES - Severe road and weather conditions may cause the school transportation department to limit service while schools remain open and operating on normal schedule. In this case, radio stations will announce the Limited Transportation Schedule that is in place for Blaine School District. The Limited Transportation Schedule loads and unloads from the following locations and approximated times:

ALDERSON and SUNSET – 7:40 AM and 8:30 AM
BAYWOOD PARK – 7:30 AM and 8:40 AM
WATER SLIDES at BIRCH BAY LYNDEN ROAD and HARBORVIEW ROAD - 7:35 AM and 8:25 AM
HAYNIE GRANGE on HAYNIE ROAD - 7:40 AM and 8:20 AM
DOUBLE R RANCH MAILBOXES – 7:30 AM and 8:40 AM
PEACE PORTAL and LOOMIS TRAIL OVERPASS – 7:50 AM and 8:40 AM
LOWER GATE of BIRCH BAY VILLAGE - 7:30 AM and 8:30 AM
SOUTH GATE of BIRCH BAY STATE PARK – 7:30 AM and 8:20 AM

POINT ROBERTS TO BLAINE - SNOW ROUTE BUS STOPS

SNOW ROUTES:

When road conditions in the Point Roberts area are determined to be hazardous or unsafe due to inclement weather, the Blaine School District will put into effect a school bus snow route for the Blaine bus.

If an announcement is made regarding Blaine Schools, Point Roberts residents should assume the announcement applies to them unless information is given otherwise.

Unless there are announcements otherwise, the snow route and limited transportation schedule will consist of the following pick-up and drop-off stops at the:

INTERNATIONAL MARKETPLACE - 7:00am, 7:50am and 4:00pm
INTERSECTION OF TYEE AND DOGWOOD AT 7:10am, 8:00am and 3:50pm

POINT ROBERTS PRIMARY SCHOOL SNOW ROUTE INFORMATION

When road conditions in the Point Roberts area are determined to be hazardous or unsafe due to inclement weather, the Blaine School District will put into effect a school bus snow route for the Blaine bus.

If an announcement is made regarding Blaine Schools, Point Roberts residents should assume the announcement applies to them unless information is given otherwise.
Unless there are announcements otherwise, the snow route and limited transportation schedule will consist of the following pick-up and drop-off stops:
Corner of Mill Road and Johnson Road – 8:55 a.m. / 2:55 p.m.
Nielson’s Building Center – 9:00 a.m. / 3:00 p.m.

REASON FOR SCHOOLS GOING TO LIMITED TRANSPORTATION –

Some roads are constructed to handle freeze thaw while other roads are prone to significant damage. During a warming spell, following a freeze, roads thaw out from the top down. Water becomes trapped between the road surface and the frozen ground below, causing the roadways to float on a layer on water. As a result, heavy wheel loads can break through the pavement and destroy the road surface. To prevent this, some roads must be restricted from heavy wheel loads until the entire roadway thaws, allowing the water to drain out of the roadway.

Two stages of road restrictions are established according to County code. The first stage is Emergency when heavy truck and bus travel restrictions are minimal. When restrictions are elevated to Severe Emergency (second stage), the number of roads that buses are allowed to travel are reduced.

In the past years (other than last year), the Blaine School District hasn’t had the heavy freeze that restricted the buses from using all of the roads in our district. Last winter we received a heavy freeze that would have restricted buses to all weather roads, but the County gave us a special permit to use the soft roads. This year, the County says they will not issue that permit. We are sorry for the inconvenience this may cause.

The Blaine School District would like to thank you for your cooperation and flexibility during inclement weather conditions and take this opportunity to remind parents to:

• Dress students appropriately knowing that they may have to wait longer than usual
  for the bus.
• Bear in mind that bus schedules may run late due to changing driving conditions.
• Allow for short notice schedule changes and late buses.
• Remind their children to be especially cautious while walking to the school bus stop during hours of darkness and inclement weather. Remind their children to wait well off of the roadway for the bus during icy and dark conditions.