Icy roads led to the closing of Oxford’s five elementaries Jan. 29, but not its high school and middle school.
Oxford Community Schools admitted it made a mistake by not closing school earlier in the morning for the entire district.
‘In hindsight, we made an error in judgment and should have closed school for the day. Our standard is to err on the side of safety; we missed the mark this time,” according to an official statement released by the district. ‘We are fortunate and thankful no Oxford students or bus drivers were harmed during the hazardous conditions this morning.”
The statement went on to explain that “the bus routes were checked this morning between 4:30 a.m. and 5:25 a.m. It was not raining at the time and we believed the ice would break up, so at 5:30 a.m. it was decided school would not be cancelled. When the rain started, and we put the buses on the road, we realized our mistake and decided to close the elementary schools.
Oakland County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Schmitzerle reported that road conditions on E. Drahner Rd. between Barr Rd. and James Hunt Dr. were particularly slick and treacherous.
He indicated that as a result, four school buses — not from the Oxford district — got stranded near Barr Rd.
‘Even I got stuck. I had to be pulled out,? Schmitzerle noted.
Salt was spread along the dirt road and the buses were able to get moving again.