Escalon didn't really come close to a 'snow day' on Monday, but there were snowflakes in the air as a cold, wet weather system made its way down from Canada and into California, bringing with it snow that dropped down to very low elevations.
There wasn't enough to make a snowball with, since it melted soon after it hit the ground locally, but residents had the chance to see snow falling from the sky for the first time in years.
The wet, windy weather also caused a couple of brief power outages at one of the outlying schools in Escalon, but even that was not long enough to create any problems, as students stayed in school and the power was not off very long.
In the Escalon Unified School District, officials don't plan on snow days but they do expect an occasional 'fog day' to delay the start of school.
"We've been kind of spoiled, the last three or four years our fog days have been few and far between," said Escalon Unified District School Superintendent Dave Mantooth. "We had one day last week where we had a one hour delay at a couple of the rural schools."
Typically, the delay is one or two hours, depending on how long it takes for the fog to lift. Mantooth said he can't remember a day when school was actually canceled by fog. A few bus routes may be impacted, but those children are often brought to school by their parents and so do not miss the day.
Mantooth said as the winter season sets in and fog is more likely, officials are reviewing the ConnectEd system as a way to alert residents to any delays. Through that system, an automated phone message can be delivered to all households with students in the district. It can also be tailored to a specific school.
"We can program it so if it is just Collegeville that is affected, we can call just those parents," Mantooth said of making the notifications.
While the ConnectEd system is not being used in that way now, Mantooth said they do hope to have it in service by the time the next fog day rolls around.
"We still need to do some work to make sure" it will be effective, Mantooth said.
And despite having to travel in the wintry mix of conditions on Monday morning, there were no bussing issues.
"There was a lot of slush," said Mantooth.
There wasn't enough to make a snowball with, since it melted soon after it hit the ground locally, but residents had the chance to see snow falling from the sky for the first time in years.
The wet, windy weather also caused a couple of brief power outages at one of the outlying schools in Escalon, but even that was not long enough to create any problems, as students stayed in school and the power was not off very long.
In the Escalon Unified School District, officials don't plan on snow days but they do expect an occasional 'fog day' to delay the start of school.
"We've been kind of spoiled, the last three or four years our fog days have been few and far between," said Escalon Unified District School Superintendent Dave Mantooth. "We had one day last week where we had a one hour delay at a couple of the rural schools."
Typically, the delay is one or two hours, depending on how long it takes for the fog to lift. Mantooth said he can't remember a day when school was actually canceled by fog. A few bus routes may be impacted, but those children are often brought to school by their parents and so do not miss the day.
Mantooth said as the winter season sets in and fog is more likely, officials are reviewing the ConnectEd system as a way to alert residents to any delays. Through that system, an automated phone message can be delivered to all households with students in the district. It can also be tailored to a specific school.
"We can program it so if it is just Collegeville that is affected, we can call just those parents," Mantooth said of making the notifications.
While the ConnectEd system is not being used in that way now, Mantooth said they do hope to have it in service by the time the next fog day rolls around.
"We still need to do some work to make sure" it will be effective, Mantooth said.
And despite having to travel in the wintry mix of conditions on Monday morning, there were no bussing issues.
"There was a lot of slush," said Mantooth.
