Duval County schools closing Tuesday through Thursday for Idalia's projected impact on area

Duval County schools will be closed Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday because of the approach of Tropical Storm Idalia, school officials said Monday.

The storm is expected to impact Northeast Florida Wednesday, but the extra days are needed for preparing campuses ahead of the storm and assessing damage after Idalia has passed, Superintendent Dana Kriznar said during a midday news conference with Jacksonville emergency officials.

The school system has set up a webpage — dcps.duvalschools.org/Idalia — where information will be posted about its response to the hurricane.

Idalia was projected Monday to become a strong hurricane whose effects on Jacksonville were described as "strong tropical storm" level winds, but the impact remains stereoptypically uncertain.

Several schools will be used as hurricane shelters during the storm, which could add complications to the system’s storm response, particularly if some shelters needed to remain in use past Wednesday.

School operations on Monday will all continue normally, including afterschool events, sports, and other extracurricular activities.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Duval schools closed Tuesday through Thursday by Idalia, expected hurricane