Can the school be held liable for child endangerment or neglect for living student stranded in 17 degree weather for an hour

Thankfully, nothing serious happened to your daughter. Without damages, a lawsuit will not be successful. Waiting in the cold for an hour will not be a basis for a successful lawsuit. Also, the bus broke down. The school can not be deemed negligent unless you can prove they knew in advance this bus was prone to repeatedly breaking down. Govt entities like public schools are notoriously hard to sue in any event because there are many hoops to jump through. If there was negligence on the part of the school AND your daughter God forbid suffered serious injuries, then there would be a basis for a lawsuit. The law does not provide a remedy for every wrong. Also, without catastrophic injury (and hence damages) a lawyer would not go through these hoops on a contingency basis. He/she'd expect a $5000 retainer plus their hourly fee. Regardless, I don't see a basis for a lawsuit based on what you present. Complain to the school internally to ensure that they take care of this bus.