A Lake Washington School District bus slid into a ditch after surprise snowfall hit the district on Monday morning.

District Communications Director Kathryn Reith said there were no kids on the bus at the time of the incident at the intersection of Slater Avenue and 120th Street, and the driver was uninjured. There was some damage to the bus, though relatively minor, and the bus was towed back to the district bus barn.

The district took flak on social media for keeping schools open after closures in December and January. But unlike the earlier closures, this time the district was taken by surprise meaning busses, students and staff were already on the road by the time snow began to fall.

“It was about the worst possible time for snow to hit,” Reith said.

The district typically makes the call to cancel school around 5 a.m.

“It’s just really one of those timing things where no decision was a good decision,” Reith said. “Conditions were getting really difficult in some parts of the district, and it was very localized. Education Hill (Redmond) was really dumped on. … It happened so quickly there wasn’t time to get people warning or get the word out.”

Reith said there weren’t any district-involved incidents other than the bus incident, but she’s grown used to hearing from students on Twitter.

“The last couple of times we’ve had some potential for school closure, quite a few students were weighing in on things,” Reith said. “A few not so appropriately, and those have been forwarded on to the schools, but most have been fine. We take it in good stride.”

The district avoided changes to the end-of-year schedule, which could have meant adding days in June. The district released an updated schedule, with make-up days included, on Feb. 23.