Unclear whether Hurricane Ian will shut down Brevard Public Schools — yet
Editor's note: Brevard Public Schools announced Tuesday morning that sch would close Wednesday and Thursday. Read our most recent coverage here.
As of Monday afternoon, it’s too early to say whether schools will close later this week for the arrival of Hurricane Ian, Brevard Public School officials say.
BPS wrote in an email to parents at about 5:30 Monday afternoon that Tuesday would be a normal school day for students, and the district would update families about the rest of the week in the early afternoon. District administration will meet Tuesday morning to form plans.
Much of Brevard was in the probable path of the storm as of press time, but the Space Coast still could face tropical storm force winds and flooding. That could spell trouble for bus routes.
BPS spokesman Russell Bruhn said the buses cannot be driven safely in sustained winds over 40 miles per hour; by definition, tropical storms have sustained winds from 39-73 mph winds.
The district could also face challenges like power outages or flash flooding. The Brevard Emergency Operations Center uses some district schools as hurricane shelters, so a decision to open hurricane shelters would impact schools as well.
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BPS will notify parents as soon as a decision is made, Bruhn said. The district will attempt to release information early the day before schools are to be closed. but due to the uncertainty of storm predictions, the district is waiting for more information before it can definitively say whether schools will close.
“We want to get that information out to our public as soon as the decision has been made, but we also want to make the right decision for students and for families and staff,” Bruhn said. “We're not going to do it at 9pm on a Tuesday and say ‘there's no school tomorrow.' Our goal is to give people time to to make plans."
Some districts elsewhere in Florida have already made the call to close schools. Public schools in Lake County, Sumpter County, Polk County, Osceola County and Marion County will close for at least part of the coming week. Other districts including Orange County had not made a call one way or the other by 5 p.m. Monday.
Bailey Gallion is the education reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallion at 321-242-3786 or bgallion@floridatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Hurricane Ian could close Brevard Public Schools
