The Buffalo Public Schools have a new process in place for deciding when to close schools. Heavy snowfall Monday morning made it difficult for school busses to navigate side streets.
Given the 8-10-inch snowfall across the city, Buffalo Public Works Commissioner Steve Stepniak says he advised school officials getting buses down residential streets Monday morning would be "an issue," especially with 35 snowplows in service.
"I knew it would slow our operations down. It slows you down when you have that kind of vehicle traffic on the roadway," said Stepniak.
Stepniak says he talked with school officials at about 5:45 a.m. But by then, Buffalo Public Schools Interim Superintendent Don Ogilvie says the buses were already running.
"Oftentimes, you don't have the best information at 5 a.m," Ogilvie said.
In the future, Ogilivie says his staff will talk to Public Works prior to that time.
"I can't account for why that wouldn't have happened in the past. I think sometimes, unfortunately, you have to have a mistake of major proportions before you recognize that your system can be improved, your process can be improved. So we're looking forward on that one," said Ogilvie.