Sarasota Schools 'aiming for Monday' to open north county schools, south county could be delayed
A week after the Sarasota County School District moved to close schools until further notice because of Hurricane Ian, officials have a timeline to reopen.
The district announced a phased reopening plan in which schools including Taylor Ranch Elementary and others north of it will reopen "early next week," followed by south county schools about a week later, district officials announced at a news conference Tuesday morning. The district plans to host another news conference Thursday with more information.
"Obviously, we want to open ASAP, and as you probably know, north county and south county took different amounts of wind and water," Superintendent Brennan Asplen said. "However, all of our schools had water intrusion and damage."
The damage included power outages, downed power lines, flooding, cellular and cable outages, water and plumbing issues and structural damage.
Four schools still have power outages: Southside, Lamarque, Toledo Blade and Glenallen Elementary schools, according to the district.
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“I thought there would be much more damage than there was,” Asplen said.
District staff had been working around the clock since Sept. 27, when schools were pressed into service as shelters, he said.
School neighborhoods still have debris and standing water blocking sidewalks, according to a district document. Several traffic lights are not working, hindering the safe busing of students. The district said it anticipates these issues will be addressed by the end of the week.
District facilities employees had been working around the clock since Friday on repairs to get schools back to usable condition, officials said.
The district's chief operating officer, Jody Dumas, said that while south county schools will open, not all of the school's facilities may be accessible. He gave an example in which a cafeteria may be inaccessible, so students might have to eat in their classrooms and the district cooks food off-site.
In terms of instruction and missed class time, district leaders said they are making plans to address the forming gap.
"We just want to make sure that we're taking the time to painstakingly look at multiple perspectives. So that again, our students, who are our priority, our families and our staff have what they need and the resources to go ahead and make sure that they feel like they belong back in our schools," said Assistant Superintendent Chris Renouf.
The district also is looking into at-home resources that may be available for students, Renouf said.
Two schools were still being used as shelters as of Sunday, with plans to close them Friday, according to the district. Tatum Ridge Elementary was being used as a shelter for medically dependent evacuees and Venice High School for the general population.
Earlier Tuesday the School Board held a special meeting and unanimously voted to give Asplen emergency power to address the damage from the hurricane and deal with repairs. The authorization will expire 45 days from Tuesday, and the superintendent must notify the School Board of any spending over $100,000.
Follow Herald-Tribune Education Reporter Steven Walker on Twitter at @swalker_7. He can be reached at sbwalker@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota County schools set reopening timeline post-Hurricane Ian
