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Putnam County School District employees work the hurricane shelter at Browning-Pearce Elementary School in September 2022 as Hurricane Ian hovers over the area.
Schools will close as Putnam County braces for Tropical Storm Idalia to make landfall early Wednesday.
On Monday, the Putnam County School District announced its schools would be closed Wednesday and Thursday. Extracurricular activities scheduled today through Thursday are canceled as well, district officials said.
Superintendent Rick Surrency said he met with county officials at the Emergency Operations Center, 410 State Road 19 in Palatka, and they agreed on the closure schedule. Idalia is expected to make landfall Wednesday on the Gulf Coast, which is when local officials expect the weather to be the worst, Surrency said.
“We meet jointly with the county and Emergency Operations staff and made a decision,” he said. “We know the worst part of the storm will be Wednesday. As a precaution, we’re keeping schools closed Thursday.”
Surrency said school officials will use Thursday to inspect schools, bus routes and other infrastructure for damages to make sure it will be safe for students and school employees to return to their classrooms and workplaces Friday.
St. Johns River State College, which has campuses in Palatka, Orange Park and St. Augustine, as well as online, will also close because of the hurricane, according to an email from the college’s communications office.
The closure will begin at 3 p.m. today and last through Wednesday. All volleyball games that are to take place during the time of the closures will be rescheduled, according to the college.
“All Tuesday classes that begin after 3 p.m. (today), including online and Live online, will be cancelled,” the email stated. “The college will continue to monitor the situation and have another update no later than 4 p.m. Wednesday, August 30.”
The school district is keeping its facilities closed for two days not only to take precautions Thursday, but also because some schools will be used as shelters for people who need a safe place to wait out the storm.
Surrency said shelters will open at 5 p.m. today at the following locations:
– Jenkins Elementary, 251 County Road 315 in Interlachen.
– Ochwilla Elementary, which is pet-friendly, 299 State Road 21 in Hawthorne.
– Kelley Smith Elementary, which is for people with special needs, 141 Kelley Smith School Road in Palatka.
– Browning-Pearce Elementary, 100 Bear Blvd. in San Mateo.
– Middleton-Burney Elementary, 1020 Huntington Road in Crescent City.
The district has previously used Q.I. Roberts Junior-Senior High School as a shelter, but not many people used it when it was open last year, Surrency said.
“We don’t see the demand now,” he said. “The last time we had it open, very few people took advantage of it.”
Surrency applauded district workers who help prepare schools to be used as shelters, work the shelters and return schools to their everyday use. He also highlighted Florida Department of Health in Putnam County employees, who work in the shelter for people with special needs.
Surrency said Monday he did not know how long shelters would remain open. He said he would continue to meet with county and weather officials to determine if shelters would close Wednesday or remain open until Thursday.
“That’s going to be a game-day decision based on the weather,” he said. “If we need to keep it open Wednesday night, that’s fine.”
Surrency said the district would take whatever course of action keeps students and employees safe.
It’s not ideal to have a hurricane shut down school, especially so early in the academic year, he said. But that comes with the territory as Florida residents, Surrency said.
“It’s just part of living in Florida,” Surrency said. “It’s like living up North and having snow days. You just expect it.”
For additional school district information, visit putnamschools.org or the Putnam County School District Facebook Page. Visit sjrstate.edu or the St. Johns River State College Facebook page for more information about SJR State.