As cold weather continues to hold the state in an icy grip, and with the potential for winter precipitation on the horizon, the school board learned Tuesday night that many of the district’s buses simply will not function in severe cold.

Wednesday, the district released a plan to deal with problem.

“The gear shift, for some reason, doesn’t engage,” Dr. Walter Tobin explained Tuesday night, “when the temperatures get down as low as they’ve been consistently.”

Dr. Tobin said the problem is evident in 20 to 30 percent of the district’s buses.

“Other districts are experiencing the same problems,” said Karim Johnson, Fairfield County School District Transportation Manager. “Student Transportation Services will make every effort to keep buses on schedule and provide notifications of delays as they occur.”

The district’s plan to deal with the issue includes drivers arriving earlier in the day to start the buses in order for them to adequately warm up. Drivers will begin arriving at 4 a.m., with mechanics arriving an hour later to repair any temperature-related glitches.

“The district was made aware that one of the bus models many districts use may not be able to move during very cold weather, due to freezing of the shift linkage which engages the bus from neutral to drive,” the district plan states. “This issue does not compromise the safety of the school buses.   Due to this being a factory design issue, there is very little that can be done to prevent this problem from occurring. The Fairfield School Bus Shop has been working with Student Transportation Services to provide corrective measures to the problem.”