Schools and colleges across the state continued to announce closures and class cancellations for the week as Hurricane Ian approached Florida.
According to the Florida Department of Education, more than 50 of the state’s 76 school districts have canceled classes, many through Friday. The Florida Department of Education kept updating the list as school districts provided news. About 30 colleges and universities have also announced they are closing campuses and canceling classes.
Florida has five of the 10 largest public school districts in the United States, all of which have announced closures. It included Miami-Dade, Broward, Hillsborough, Orange, and Palm Beach counties.
With many public schools across the state turned into shelters, it was unclear when they would be available for students.
The Manatee County district, located south of Tampa on the Gulf Coast and along the path of the hurricane, closed schools Tuesday until further notice.School district and county emergency management settings 17 evacuation centersresidents began to move on Tuesday.
SAT testing in Flagler County was rescheduled from October 1st to October 15th, and classes were canceled in districts south of St. Augustine on Florida’s East Coast.
“This is not a decision we take lightly, but we want to give families enough time to prepare their homes for this storm or to evacuate the area if they feel that is the best option. We want to give,” said Cathy Mittelstadt of the Flagler School. “We also need to use this time to prepare emergency shelter spaces provided by the campus in case people are asked to evacuate.”
Students who choose to stay in Tallahassee are advised to follow shelter-in-place protocols, according to a Florida State University warning. Boxed meals are delivered to the dormitory before the storm.
At the University of South Florida, students living in dormitories in St. Petersburg were relocated to the Tampa campus when alternative housing options were not available.
The University of Florida has canceled all classes, including online, from Wednesday through Friday.
The private University of Miami said it would move classes online at its Coral Gables and Marin campuses, and some classes from its medical campuses. The dining room and athletics will continue to operate as usual.