School district closes schools in advance of storm
Today, Oct. 6, the School District of Lee County sent an email to parents sharing that schools will be closed on Oct. 7-10 to get prepared for Hurricane Milton’s impact to the area.
“The district has been working closely with Lee County’s Emergency Operations Center in preparation for Milton’s impact to our area. The National Hurricane Center indicates that our area is likely to be impacted by at least tropical storm strength winds and potentially up to hurricane force winds, heavy rainfall, significant area flooding, and storm surge later this week,” the email stated.
The decision was also made due to Lee County declaring a local state of emergency, and officials made the decision to activate some schools as storm shelters. To prepare the schools, teams will begin going into locations to get them ready to become shelters starting on Oct. 7.
County officials will announce which locations will be open for storm shelters.
“Principals, additional administrators, building supervisors, and other critical personnel as outlined in the district’s Hurricane Preparedness Plan, are expected to report to their school location on Monday, Oct. 7, to make the appropriate preparations for the incoming storm,” the email said.
The main school district office and satellite locations will be open on Oct. 7 for regular business hours, but will be closed on Oct. 8-9. The potential reopening of district and satellite offices on Oct. 10 will be shared by the evening of Oct. 9.
The school board’s action and briefing meeting on Oct. 8 has been postponed and will be rescheduled if needed.
Schools were recently closed for two days due to Hurricane Helene. The hurricane make-up days have been scheduled for Oct. 14 and Jan. 6.
The instructional calendar will be further evaluated to determine which dates can be used for these four days.
To reach MEGHAN BRADBURY / news@breezenewspapers.com, please email