GREENFIELD — Two Greenfield-Central Schools were forced to dismiss students early Thursday after a car accident caused a power outage in the Maxwell area.
Eden Elementary Schools and Maxwell Intermediate School were among 324 Duke Energy customers affected by the power outage. It was first reported about 9:45 a.m. after a car hit a utility pole.
According to police, Raven Hibbard, 20, Greenfield, was driving southbound on State Road 9 when her vehicle ran off the roadway at the intersection of County Road 500N.
The 2005 Buick Rendezvous she was driving struck a utility pole, causing it to snap.
Power lines fell, and two utility poles were damaged, leading to the power outage.
The vehicle continued to travel into a parking lot and struck a parked 2003 Lincoln Navigator, registered to Michelle Burton of Shelbyville.
Hibbard wasn’t injured in the accident. And police said they believe slick roads caused by morning snow contributed to the accident.
The accident closed State Road 9 between county roads 400N and 600N for several hours.
Greenfield-Central Superintendent Harold Olin said falling temperatures in the school buildings were behind the decision to dismiss.
Olin said students will not be required to make up the missed instruction time because classes were dismissed only about one hour and 15 minutes early, which is no different than a two-hour delay caused by weather.
The students also ate lunch at school, which fulfills one state requirement for having Thursday counted as a regular school day.
