Jefferson County school districts opted to play it safe last weekend as they announced plans to send students home early before the first snow of the day had fallen on Feb. 8. The weekend off extended into the week, as almost all the districts canceled all classes and after-school activities for Feb. 11-12. PORT TOWNSEND The Port Townsend School District released all three of its schools two hours early Feb. 8. The district also canceled morning and afternoon preschool, and all district events planned for Feb. 8 and through the weekend, which extended into snow-day closures Feb. 11 and 12. Superintendent John Polm confirmed the district had used two snow days as of Monday. “We have scheduled (make-up) snow days on Feb. 15 and May 24,” Polm said. “Any future snow days are scheduled to be made up on June 17 and 18, if needed.” CHIMACUM Although all of Chimacum’s schools started their day at their regular times Feb. 8, the school district announced early release times of 12:15 p.m. for grades 3-12 and 12:30 p.m. for Chimacum Creek Primary. The district has pledged to monitor weather forecasts and road conditions and to update the schedules on its website and Facebook pages. Despite of snowplows working the Chimacum main campus over the weekend, the Chimacum School District also declared a snow day for Feb. 11 and 12. QUILCENE The Quilcene School District announced an early release time of 1:15 p.m. for Feb. 8 and relayed a message from Superintendent Frank Redmon on its website. “We understand that changes to the school schedule or bus routes impact our families,” Redmon wrote. “Our top priority is the safety of our students and staff.” Redmon said the decision to delay or cancel school typically is made in the early morning hours. “We look at the most up-to-date weather forecasts and have staff, including our superintendent and transportation supervisor, driving local roads to assess conditions,” Redmon wrote. “We try to have any changes to the school schedule posted on the district website by 6 a.m.” Redmon promised to send updates to local media, including Seattle TV stations, as well as to send automated emails and phone calls. In the meantime, the Quilcene School stayed closed Feb. 11-12. BRINNON The Brinnon School District posted notice on its website it would conduct early release between 11 a.m. to noon on Feb. 8, and it remained closed Feb. 11. Superintendent Patricia Beathard noted Feb. 11 was the district’s first full snow day. “We have a snow makeup day scheduled for May 24,” Beathard said. “Additional days will be added to the end of the school year.”