Published: January 06, 2009 12:17 pm         

Slippery conditions greet students on first day back to school

Effingham students were greeted their first day back at school from winter vacation with a bout of winter weather.

Students in Effingham Unit 40 School District headed back to school this morning on ice-covered roadways, while students in school districts to the west and south stayed home.

St. Elmo, Brownstown, South Central, North Clay and Flora called off school today.

Unit 40 Superintendent Dan Clasby said he was up at 3 a.m. checking on the conditions of the roads. Clasby and three other people drive the highway and country roads to make a decision about whether to cancel school by 5:30 a.m.

“Based on driving conditions, some of the secondary roads were on the slick side, but given the forecasts that it was supposed to stop by 11 a.m., we figured it (driving conditions) would be OK once the traffic gets on the road,” Clasby said.

Clasby said the buses reported no problems this morning, though a few of the buses with country routes were running about 10 minutes behind. Meanwhile, Effingham Police Department reported at 8 a.m. it had received no weather-related calls due to the ice.

The National Weather Service in Lincoln reported one- to two-tenths accumulation of ice in the Effingham area south and east of I-70.

Meteorologist Brad Churchill said the accumulation was caused by rain falling when surface temperatures were below freezing.

Residents do not have to worry about the ice for long. Churchill said the rain should be finished by noon.

“There will be a chance of light snow Friday night, but right now we don’t expect anymore ice,” he said.

Angie Faller can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 131 or angie.faller@effinghamdailynews.com.