Fairfax County did not enact a two hour delay when faced with a report of light snowfall on the morning of Feb. 1. However there were three reported accidents within the school zone and an increase in student tardiness.

“Apparently the roads were slippery this morning and it was unexpected for South Lakes to be as slippery as it was, because the amount of snow that had fallen was just a light coating,” freshman sub school secretary Blanca Sanchez said. “People were not expecting the roads to be that slick and they went out unprepared, so there were just a couple of fender-benders.”

The lack of a delay was due to the reports of only a light snowfall and the seemingly lack of it, as it was reported for early in the morning and did not start falling in the Fairfax area until after the usual decision time of 4:30 a.m.

Interim Principal Dale Rumberger could not say whether or not the snow warranted a late start, but believes that it was a good decision on Fairfax County’s part due to the timing of the weather.

“It was a great call for Fairfax County, because when I left this morning there was barely a flake coming down,” Rumberger said. “By the time I got off of Fox Mill Road I could see the tracks being made.”

Despite the lack of severity of the actual snow fall, which was in the process of ending by the schools official start time of 7:20 a.m., many students were faced with a longer the normal commute. The normally long lines that lead into the school parking lot became even larger as drivers worked to drive carefully while avoiding the handful of minor accidents.

To help the late drivers Rumberger called for patience from the staff and asked for teachers to accommodate any students who came in late.

“I was trying to give them a little slack this morning.” Romberger said.

Other than his call for support, Rumberger does not believe that the school could have done much else to help the students.

“I don’t have the ability to cancel school and I don’t have the ability to delay the school,” Rumberger said.  “I don’t there is anything else the school really could have done. The custodians got here as soon as they possible and were spreading sand and di-icers down as soon as they could.”

Rumberger reported that officer Scott Bacon will look into the condition of the roads and keep the school updated with the help of the Fairfax County police and road crews.

“This morning was a big wake up call for everyone to remember that it’s February, and the chances of it snowing are better,” Rumberger said. “We’ve been lulled because it was sixty to seventy degrees.”

Though it is not known how many, if any, of the three accidents reported near the school involved students, there were other accidents outside of the school zone.

Senior Rachel Ravencraft did not arrive to school until 10 a.m. due to her accident.

“I did everything right and I took my feet off of the pedals and tried to maneuver it to regain control, but it didn’t really work,” Ravencraft said. “My car ran into a light post and it snapped like a tooth pick.”

This was Ravencraft’s first accident and while she was not injured, her car was towed away. She remains optimistic about the situation.

“I’m fine,” Ravencraft said.  “I’m not injured so I can’t really be upset about it. I did everything that I needed to do and I did everything right. It was just bad weather.”