LAKE STEVENS — The first day of classes at Lake Stevens High School had the feel of a last day of school before summer vacation.
It was short and not much got done.
A power outage around 5:30 a.m. changed ambitious plans to greet students for the first day, said Arlene Hulten, a school district spokeswoman.
By the time the outage was reported, it was too late to contact all the students and cancel school, which started at 7:20 a.m.
Part of the marching band was assembled to greet fellow students.
Activity sign-up tables were out and seniors were ready to guide underclassmen who might have had questions.
The outage cut all those plans short.
Students arrived on campus and reported to their first-period classes, many in dark classrooms with no windows. Some of those classes met outside and others joined classes where there was natural light.
“When your power is down, a lot of other systems go out as well,” Hulten said.
Students were sent home by 9:30 a.m.
Lake Stevens High School was the lone campus in the district affected by the outage. Students waited at the high school until the buses were finished with routes for younger students.
Snohomish County PUD crews worked into the evening replacing a damaged line. It took more than 10 hours to repair the line and restore power.
“It was some bad underground cable that needs replacement,” said Neil Neroutsos, a Snohomish PUD spokesman.
Students took the short day in stride, Hulten said.
“They seemed pretty happy,” she said.
Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or e-mail stevick@heraldnet.com.
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