Grant County students enjoy snow day

MOSES LAKE - Low visibility and large snow drifts turned Tuesday into snow day for students across Grant County.

Moses Lake, Othello, Warden and Wilson Creek school districts and Big Bend Community College were closed while Quincy, Soap Lake and Ephrata all opened after a two-hour delay.

"The difficulty this morning was visibility and drifts," said Moses Lake Deputy Superintendent Monte Redal, "It was difficult to see where the roads were and the ditches were."

"It was just a little too drifty out there," said Warden superintendent Sandra Sheldon.

Moses Lake transportation manager John Eschenbacher says that he and co-manager Wes Kelley begin inspecting roads for safety at 3:30 a.m.

"Probably the worst thing we've seen in this county was when a freezing rain came in and we had to stop the fleet en-route," Eschenbacher said. "Today it's still drifting, it's not stopped yet."

On a normal school day, the buses cover 3,500 miles and pick up about 45 percent of students who attend Moses Lake schools.

Eschenbacher says the decision to cancel school is based on several factors including bus drivers' ability to drive defensively in bad weather, whether the general public can get around safely, visibility and future weather conditions.

"If the roads are unsafe then that's a critical piece," said Soap Lake superintendent Dan McDonald.

Soap Lake schools received about three inches of snow overnight but students arrived safely after waiting for conditions to improve.

"We went with the late start so kids will have a little bit warmer wait," said Ephrata superintendent Jerry Simon. "It's all a function of wind and wind chill."

But while students enjoy their day off, they will have to make up the lost instructional time later.

Othello Superintendent George Juarez said that his district rarely has to deal with school closures and Jan. 24 will be used to make up the lost day.

"Last year school was canceled once, but prior to that I can't even recall," Juarez said.

"If we can go, we'll go." Redal said. "Each of these days we cancel we'll have to make up at the end of the year."