Hundreds of Irvine Unified students were snowed in at science camps in the San Bernardino mountains this weekend—but some are now beginning to return home, according to district officials.
About 500 students from Irvine Unified’s Cadence Park, Oak Creek, and Stone Creek schools were expected to return from Running Springs’s Camp Pali Feb. 24—but heavy snowfall there delayed them.
Also, another 120 Irvine Unified students from Turtle Rock Elementary were snowed-in at Thousand Pines in Crestline, Calif., over the weekend.
Highway 18 and Highway 330 have been closed and roads near some campsites received more than six feet of snowfall over the past week, district officials said in an email to families Feb. 26.
However, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) reported Feb. 27 roads have been cleared and conditions are now safe.
This means parents can expect children to return home soon, district officials confirmed to The Epoch Times Monday afternoon.
Buses began arriving at Thousand Pines and Camp Pali Monday afternoon and will transport students home with a partial escort from the patrol agency to a transfer point, where they will then board additional school buses for the trip home, according to district officials.
“We understand that this fluid situation may have caused concern and frustration for our students, staff, and families,” a district spokesperson said in a statement. “We would like to thank them for their patience and understanding as we continue to work diligently with the CHP, school and camp staff, our transportation team and other agencies on their safe return.”
The district is ensuring students with medical needs are transported first, the spokesperson said.
Dozens of students from Saddleback Valley Unified School District and Centralia Elementary School District were also delayed at campgrounds this week due to snowfall, though Saddleback Valley Unified students returned home Feb. 24.
A spokesperson for Centralia Elementary was not immediately available for comment.
