Hurricane Irma closes Central Florida schools, cancels games

All public schools will reopen Monday, Sept. 18

ORLANDO, Fla. – After Hurricane Irma flooded Central Florida cities and knocked out power for half the state this week, schools have extended their closure dates and rescheduled events.

The governor's office announced Thursday that Gov. Rick Scott has directed all public K-12 schools, state colleges, state universities and state offices to close Friday through Monday.

Here's a county-by-county look at the changes:

BREVARD: Brevard County Public Schools were closed Thursday and Friday during Irma and will reopen Monday. Student activities remain canceled until Monday. All schools have power and water as of Sunday.

FLAGLER: Flagler County Public Schools were closed through Friday. All extracurricular activities, athletic practices and competitions were canceled until Monday.

"This follows damage assessments at our schools and within our community, and the needed additional cleanup time following Hurricane Irma," officials said. "We want everyone to return to clean, safe schools."

LAKE: Lake County Public Schools were closed until Monday, Sept. 18. District and 12-month employees should report on Monday as usual. Students start Tuesday, Sept. 19.

"All extracurricular activities, including sports practices, are canceled for the week as well," officials said. "Students should not report to school and employees should not report to work. Many of our buildings still have no electricity. Phones are down and the internet is not working."

MARION: Marion County Public Schools were closed until Monday, Sept. 18. District and 12-month employees should report on Wednesday as usual.

All Marion County Public Schools high school football games scheduled for Friday night have been moved to Thursday night. Junior varsity games have been moved to Wednesday, except Belleview and Forest high schools, which are canceled.

ORANGE: Orange County Public Schools said all schools were closed until Monday, Sept. 18.

OSCEOLA: All Osceola County schools were closed through Friday. 

POLK: All Polk County Public Schools will be closed until Monday, Sept. 18, due to power outages and schools being used as shelters, officials said.

A spokesperson for PCPS said damage from Hurricane Irma will be assessed throughout this week.

Charter and private school student parents should contact those schools directly to find out if they will remain open.

SEMINOLE: All Seminole County Public schools were closed through Friday and will reopen on Monday, officials said. SCPS 11- and 12-month staff reported to work as normal Friday, but schools were closed for students, teachers and bus drivers.

All Seminole County Public Schools football games scheduled for Friday night were moved to Thursday night, including all home games and any away out-of-county games. Freshman and junior varsity games can be rescheduled to a later date, officials said.

The ACT test scheduled for Sept. 9 has been canceled. SCPS said it hopes to reschedule the test for Sept. 23. Students registered for the Sept. 9 test will receive official notification of the new date and time from ACT.

SUMTER: Sumter County said schools were closed through Friday. "Students will return on Monday, September 18," officials said.

VOLUSIA: All Volusia County district public schools were closed through Friday, officials said. Schools will reopen on Monday, officials said. No school activities or athletics until Monday.

COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES:

The University of Central Florida cancelled all classes until Monday, Sept. 18. Employees reported to work on Friday, the school tweeted.

UCF's football game against the Memphis Tigers, which had been moved from Saturday to Friday evening of last week, was canceled last week.

UCF athletic officials said Monday that the Knights' game against Georgia Tech scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 16, has also been canceled due to the hundreds of National Guard members that will be staging Irma recovery efforts out of Spectrum Stadium. Officials said anyone with tickets to the came, including season ticket holders, can call the athletics department at 407-823-1000 for information about attending a different game.

The Florida Institute of Technology campus will close beginning Friday through the end of the day Monday. All classes will be canceled.

All Eastern Florida State College campuses will be closed and classes are canceled Thursday though Sunday.

Barry University School of Law in Orlando will resume classes on Tuesday. 

Rollins College in Winter Park has canceled classes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday due to the potential impacts of Hurricane Irma.

Stetson University has canceled all classes in DeLands and Celebration starting Thursday at 11:30 a.m. Residence halls in DeLand will close Friday morning. Both campuses will be closed by the end of the day Friday.

Bethune Cookman University ordered all students and staff to evacuate the campus starting Tuesday at 5 p.m. Classes are canceled until further notice.

Florida A&M University (FAMU) College of Law will be closed at 5 p.m. Wednesday. All evening classes on Wednesday are canceled, as well as day and evening classes on Thursday and day and evening classes on Friday. The College of Law expects to be in normal business operations on Monday, unless weather conditions dictate otherwise.

Daytona State College campus will be closed through Wednesday due to Hurricane Irma. The college will open as soon as possible, officials said on Tuesday.

Keiser University’s Daytona Beach campus will be closed Friday through Monday. Classes are expected to resume on Tuesday, Sept. 12. For more information, please call 1-877-353-4737 or visit www.keiseruniversity.edu.

Keiser University’s Melbourne campus will reopen Thursday.

Valencia College will remained closed through Thursday, officials said.

The University of Florida will reopen Wednesday and classes will resume Thursday.

Florida State University announced that all FSU athletics events scheduled for this weekend are canceled, including Saturday's football game.

Lake-Sumter State College will be closed Wednesday. Damage assessments are underway at campuses in Clermont, Leesburg and Sumterville. Initial inspections show mild to moderate damage at each location. The Sumter Center currently has no power. 

Universal Technical Institute, Marine Mechanics Institute, and Motorcycle Mechanics Institute will close Friday and remain closed through Monday.

All Florida Technical College campuses will be closed from Friday through Monday, including Orlando, Kissimmee, DeLand, Lakeland, Pembroke Pines and Cutler Bay.

College of Central Florida will reopen Friday and classes will resume Monday.

 


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