Many Minnesota schools open, but delay start due to cold

Some schools in Minnesota are closed today and many are starting late because of the extreme cold.

St. Paul and Minneapolis Public Schools are on a regular schedule, though Minneapolis Public Schools advised parents that keeping their children at home Friday would count as an excused absence.

Minnepolis Public Schools Executive Director for Emergency Management Craig Vanna said his bus drivers take special precautions on a day like today.

"They set up a whole protocol as far as getting buses started at 4 a.m. this morning," Vanna said. "We have reserve drivers in case people are sick because we don't want students left out on the corners or buses coming extremely late on a day like today."

Vanna said that even after the regular routes are run, they have drivers going out and checking to see if there are kids who have missed the bus to make sure that every kid is picked up and safely gets to school.

The National Weather Service issued an 'extreme cold warning' for northern Minnesota through midmorning Friday. Temperatures, even without the wind chill factor, dropped to below zero double digits. It was 23 below zero in Duluth Friday morning.

A wind chill advisory was in effect for much of the rest of the state.