PARIS — As Hurricane Sandy approached the coast of New Jersey on Monday, officials in Oxford County were taking a wait-and-see approach to the storm’s effect.

Power outages began to spread across Oxford County even before the hurricane made landfall hundreds of miles away. Central Maine Power Co. reported that nearly everyone in Albany Township lost power, as well as most of Stoneham and about a third of Waterford. The number of outages rose through the afternoon and evening.

SAD 17 dismissed students an hour early Monday, which meant high school students went home at 1 p.m. and other students got out at 2. Superintendent Rick Colpitts said with winds expected to pick up later in the afternoon, they decided to get children home early and get their buses off the road.

However, there were no plans as of Monday afternoon to close school later in the week, Colpitts said, although power outages could force closures at some schools. “We’re always on the assumption that we’ll be going the next day,” he said. Final decisions are made early in the morning.

Paris police Chief David Verrier said Monday that residents shouldn’t call 911 to report power outages or downed lines. They should call Central Maine Power instead. 911 dispatchers often get tied up on power outage calls, Verrier said, when they could be taking calls from people with life safety issues.

He said town officials are ready to respond if winds wreak havoc on Paris.

While the casinos in Atlantic City have been evacuated and most of that city is under water, the Oxford Casino has no plans to close, according to spokesman Scott Smith, who said the building has multiple backup systems for security purposes.

Smith said that if Sandy turns out to be worse for Maine than expected, the casino would be a safe refuge. “I would imagine that we would be a place where people could come, if they elect to.”

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