Students had a few extra hours to themselves Friday morning, when Minford Local School District went on a two-hour delay, after reports of vandalism to some of their buses.

“We received a call at 6:15 a.m., when the drivers arrived in the garage,” Superintendent Barbara Dever explained. “They told us that some damage had been done to some of our buses. At that time, we called for a two-hour delay, because we realized that we could not put these buses on the road, not knowing if there could be any other, more serious, issues.”

Dever said that the buses were closely inspected and were deemed to be okay.

After safety was guaranteed, the school district was able to successfully utilize the buses not vandalized to get students to school.

Also, to the rescue was Wheelersburg Local School District, which loaned buses from its own fleet during this trying time for Minford.

“Wheelersburg loaned us a few buses and we were good to go,” Dever said. “We were grateful that they, out of the goodness in their hearts, loaned us the buses.”

Dever said that the details of the vandalism is being kept private, pending an investigation. She promised that the vandalism done to the buses is nothing major and simply cosmetic.

“We are not releasing that information currently, because if someone knows something they shouldn’t, they may be a suspect,” Dever explained.

Dever said that the event is unfortunate, but she is grateful for the impending winter break that will start after today.

“We have two weeks to get the buses cleaned up and ready to go again for the first of the year,” Dever said. “The issues are nothing major, and we will easily get the buses back on the road in no time.”

The Scioto County Sheriff is currently investigating the vandalism. Information on the incident may be reported by calling 740-355-8261.

No one in the office was available at the time of publication.