Andover Schools Ask Parents To Drive Kids Tuesday Due To Cold

ANDOVER, MA — Andover Public Schools asked families to drive their children to and from school Tuesday due to concerns about bus reliability.

Superintendent Magda Parvey said in a letter to parents that the cold weather in the forecast for Tuesday would affect the diesel bus engines, making them take longer to warm up and possibly making them run slower.

The National Weather Service forecasts temperatures as low as -10 degrees with wind chill in Andover Tuesday.

"Since our return to school from winter break last week, our transportation company, Trombly, has experienced staffing challenges each day due to the increase in COVID-19 cases," Parvey also said. "This has made it difficult for their operations and for buses to run on-time in the morning and afternoon routes."

The superintendent also encouraged families to consider carpooling.

"This would include our student walkers," she said. "We do not want our students waiting in extreme conditions."

>>Read the full communication from Superintendent Magda Parvey.

The transportation manager will share updates on specific bus routes as she receives them, Parvey said.

"While we recognize this is not an ideal request, we would prefer to communicate as much information as is available to us for our families to be able to prepare in advance," she said.

The superintendent provided the schedule for families not used to dropping their kids off at school.

"Elementary school drop off is at 8:45A, middle schools are at 8:05A, high school drop off is at 7:45A," she said. "We have been in contact with schools, and students will not be marked late due to delayed arrival."

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.