JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. – Hundreds of area school closings have disrupted schedules as the 2025 New Year blizzard blankets the region.

What was expected to be a Jan. 6 return to routine for most Missouri students has been derailed by the storm’s icy aftermath, eating up a handful of districts' allotted snow days for the remainder of the year, or reverting to AMI learning.

“Our safety is the most important thing that we can have for our students, so we have to take that as paramount to everything else,” Kevin Pope, the Festus R-VI School District's coordinator of communications and special projects, said.

“Our superintendent first and foremost takes a look at what the roads are like and whether or not it’s safe for school buses to be out on the roads.”

Pope said the district also has its young drivers in mind, as well as kids at bus stops.

With temperatures plummeting and roads still hazardous, districts are prioritizing safety as another storm is set to roll in this weekend, weighing heavily on students traveling down city and rural, less-maintained roadways. As of Wednesday night, officials for each district have not provided a clear timeline for when classes will resume.