News Photo by Darby Hinkley The Alpena High School sign is seen on Wednesday at the corner of Bagley and 3rd Avenue in Alpena.

ALPENA — Alpena Public Schools will remain closed on Tuesday.

“In the course of running bus routes today the district was alerted that buses were losing signal with dispatch on some rural routes,” according to an email received shortly after 8 p.m. tonight, from Lee Fitzpatrick, APS director of communications. “We discovered that the antenna to the repeater on Manning Hill that amplifies the radio signal for buses is not currently operational. We have not been able at this time to determine a timeline for the repair of this vital piece of equipment. It was likely damaged during the recent storm and following power outage. The areas affected are not adequately served by cellular service. We can not safely send buses out to operate without operable communication equipment for the safety of the drivers and passengers. We hope to find out more information tomorrow on the status of the signal repeater and explore possible alternatives for communicating.”

APS staff that normally report on snow closure days should report to work tomorrow.