Flurries of snow gave way to a flurry of activity at Clark County schools Tuesday, as, just hours after the first bells rang, news came of classes and activities canceled due to the early snowfall.
The National Weather Service announced a winter storm warning at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, as an early low-pressure system brought snow earlier than expected into Vancouver.
Not early enough, however, for districts to make the call on canceling or delaying school.
At some districts, that meant canceling after-school sports and clubs rather than sending students home early. Evergreen Public Schools, Clark County’s largest school district, kept students in class through their normal school day.
“Clearly, if we make any decision about sending students home early, we want to give parents as much notice because we don’t want to deliver — especially our elementary students — to homes where there’s no one home,” district spokeswoman Gail Spolar said.
But at Battle Ground Public Schools campuses, which typically get hit harder by snow than low-lying Vancouver districts, students were sent home before noon. That meant buses returning to school, in some cases, only a couple hours after they’d left. Pleasant Valley Primary School was a scene of controlled chaos, as parents arrived early to pick up their children, and front-desk staff pieced together departure plans for students whose afternoon care was suddenly derailed.
Joe Vajgrt, a spokesman for the district, said plans to hold school changed as the National Weather Service issued its winter storm warning. By that point, school had already started and snow was piling on the north Clark County campuses, prompting the district to send students home lest conditions worsened.
“It’s really just doing the best we can with the information we have,” Vajgrt said.
Tuesday’s early snow meant an early release for Jill Loveridge as well as her 8-year-old grandson, Erik Lamb. Loveridge is a math teacher at Battle Ground High School, and she picked up her grandson at Pleasant Valley after releasing her own students to the tunes of “Do You Want To Build A Snowman?” from the “Frozen” soundtrack.
“It’s fun,” Erik said, watching as the snow fell.
Others were not so lucky. Naomi Miller had to leave work to pick up her daughters, Lillie, 9 and Mia, 6 — an especially stressful situation, given Miller just started a new job six days ago.
“It’s a little frustrating, but I appreciate them taking care of my kids,” Miller said.
Her daughters, meanwhile, were less concerned.
“I’m probably going to go get some gloves on, some snow boots on, and see if my friends can go play,” Lillie said.
Columbian staff writer Katy Sword contributed to this report.
