Partial eclipse to be visible Monday afternoon as kids get out of school
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Map by NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio. NASA officials mapped the span of Monday's total solar eclipse across the United States.
Putnam County residents on Monday will experience part of the last total solar eclipse in the United States until 2044, but officials are urging caution.
A total solar eclipse will be visible in a good-sized portion of the nation, but Florida will see just a partial eclipse. Still, Putnam County School District Superintendent Rick Surrency said there will be precautions in place to protect students’ eyes during the event.
“Our concern is always for the safety of our students and a solar eclipse can pose some danger to those who look directly at the sun,” Surrency wrote in an email sent to parents on April 1.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, blocking the face of the sun. Putnam County will experience up to 62% darkness coverage, Surrency said.
The eclipse will occur from 1:46 – 4:18 p.m., with the maximum coverage happening at 3:04 p.m., he said.
People can safely look at the eclipse with special glasses, filters or lenses designed to protect their eyes while looking at the obscured sun, NASA states on its website. Using sunglasses or other unapproved tinted eyewear will result in severe eye damage, officials said.
Surrency said the glasses commonly used need to be up to international standards, but the district has heard reports of counterfeit glasses. Due to the possibility of students getting their hands on faulty eclipse glasses, the school district will not allow students outside from 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. Monday.
“We recognize that students will be transitioning for dismissal during this time, and students will be instructed not to look into the sun,” Surrency wrote in an email.
Looking at the sun “will instantly cause severe eye injury,” NASA officials confirmed in a safety guide.
Putnam County School Board member David Buckles said he remembers having to look through smoked glass to see an eclipse when he was a child. All safety guidelines for the upcoming eclipse are recognized by state agencies, he said during a school board meeting Tuesday.
“We didn’t just make this up willy-nilly out of the sky,” he said. “I wanted to reassure people that are watching (the school board meeting) that this is an actual event and it’s not an April Fools’ joke. The intent is to try to protect kids from looking directly at the sun and let parents be parents.”
In his email, Surrency said parents could check their children out of school early or keep them at home Monday and the absence will be excused as long as children provide a note from a parent or guardian.
“(We’re) not trying to make (it) a bigger thing than it is, but we feel an obligation to make sure students, educators and parents realize the danger of the solar eclipse,” Surrency said during the board meeting. “It is a great thing to understand and learn about. … We felt obligated to make sure we sent this (email) out just to make sure if they go out there and just wear any set of sunglasses that are not approved, that could cause damage.”