As the accumulation marked the first snow of the season, it also sparked safety concerns and murmurs of cancellation of school and tomorrow’s finals from the student body.
“I thought [the snow] would be nicer if we had a snow day but it’s OK,” senior Eryn Wanyonyi said. “I had a Career Center class today so it was really windy, and I just wasn’t feeling it, and I was just really miserable.”
Due to slick roads this morning, Wanyonyi said she was also late to her first hour class because transportation was slow going. The possibility of bad road conditions tonight could influence attendance tomorrow, attendance secretary Jan Fowler said.
“We have had some calls about the weather and parents wanting to pick their kids up, but for my group … I probably haven’t had more than 10 calls saying ‘I want to pick my kid up early’,” Fowler said. “Part of [tomorrow’s absences] is just the last day before holiday break is always terrible because so many people leave town early … I’ll be surprised if we have 50 percent attendance. There are many different aspects in that, if the roads are slick, if their done with finals … I do expect a fairly low attendance rate.”
As far as conditions this afternoon, parking lot attendant Chris Blummer said he has seen several sliding cars, and the snow makes his job a little more difficult. As well as the biting cold and slick conditions, those beloved orange stickers can’t stick to the wet car windows.
“There’s not a whole lot I can do. I don’t take it easy, but I kind of give the kids the day off,” Blummer said. The roads “might be better since people have been driving around on them all day, warming them up and stopping the snow from sticking too much. I’ve seen trucks come by putting salt on the roads so hopefully they won’t be too bad.”
However, Wanyonyi believes the district should have let out early and fears a dangerous trip home for buses. Also, with the possibility of a good freeze tonight, students may not make it far from the driveway tomorrow morning, she said.
“They should have let us out early, I don’t know why they haven’t, but little elementary kids do not need to be outside in this, I don’t need to be outside in this, no one should be outside in this,” Wanyonyi said. “The roads are actually slick and the snow is sticking now and so the buses could have an issue with sliding and stuff, and if it gets any colder, it might start freezing and with the wind, it’s also an issue.”
By Kaitlyn Marsh
