Ellisville Area Buses Delay Students; Teachers, Too, Arrive Late

Travel difficulties from Monday's snow made teachers in Ellisville tardy in addition to students, although the worst effects from the weather appeared to be felt farther west.

“It was pretty crazy,” said Bill Sloan, Director of Purchasing and Transportation for Rockwood Schools. Sloan said schools around Ballwin and Ellisville did experience delays, but the district's nastiest weather issues occurred deeper in West St. Louis County, where some buses arrived nearly two hours late. “The worst was out in the Eureka area because of . That just kind of complicated things.”

Sloan said few weather services predicted the snowfall, which gave the busing center less notice to clear out pathways and get buses dispatched on time.

“And if you’re late on those, it’s a snowball effect, if you will,” Sloan said, citing the subsequent delays a late start can prompt.

“I think today was just a very, very unusual case when you have a lot of the snow hitting around 6 (a.m.) and not letting up like is expected,” Sloan said. “It’s hard to prepare for these.”

Kathleen Hager, assistant principal at , said buses there arrived around 9:10 a.m., which is roughly 20 minutes later than usual.

“They were kind of slow coming in and not fully loaded.”

Hager said some teachers at the school also arrived late, partially because of difficulty traveling near subdivisions near Lake Saint Louis and Route 44.

“So I was kind of working on covering (for) them,” Hager said.

Sloan said Clayton Road and other streets normally cleared by the Missouri Department of Transportation didn’t appear to be cleared during peak morning travel times. His own subdivison, Cherry Hills in Ballwin, also hadn’t yet been cleared, Sloan said.

He said parents in the Rockwood district concerned about future bussing delays should call the district garage. A dispatcher there should be able to provide updates on possible delays and update parents on the buses’ locations.

The Rockwood School District dispatch center can be reached at 636-458-2044.

Hager said parents also should ensure they are registered with the district’s “Alert Now” system which sends automated messages about delays as it did Monday.

“We did pretty good,” Hager said. “It was just getting staff here that was a bigger problem.”