Callaway County students may have had half a day to play in the snow Monday, but the hours they did attend school count as an attendance day as far as the state is concerned.
Roads were clear enough to run the buses first thing in the morning, but with snow continuing to fall - sometimes heavily - throughout the day, local education officials decided to let school out at approximately 12:30 in order to ensure students got home safely.
"The forecast was for the snow to pick up pretty heavily at the time we usually let out," said South Callaway Superintendent Mary Lynn Battles. "While the major roads were in pretty good shape, we were concerned about the secondary roads, and we made the decision to give us extra time to get students home safely."
Superintendents David Tramel with New Bloomfield, Jacque Cowherd with Fulton and Bryan Thomsen with North Callaway all gave similar reasons for their decision to send students home early.
"We had to make a decision by mid-morning and at the time they were forecasting the worst to hit in the afternoon," Tramel said. "Our thought was to try to get them home before the worst hit."
Cowherd said it did take longer than usual to get all the buses cleared, noting that as drivers were coming in they noted "the gravel was pretty slick and packed down."