With the path of Tropical Storm Idalia, which has the potential to be upgraded to a hurricane in the next 12 to 24 hours, being uncertain, the Polk County Public Schools District has already taken preemptive measures.
Although schools will remain open on Tuesday, all after-school activities, including all high school sports events, have been canceled, which include volleyball, swimming, golf, and bowling competitions. All high school football games scheduled for Thursday and Friday are still expected to be held.
The announcement was sent out in an automated call to residents in Polk County.
Polk County athletic director Dan Talbot said the district is taking it day by day on whether or not more events will have to be canceled.
“It hasn’t gotten to the Gulf yet, so we don’t want to cancel school just,” he said. “And it all just depends too, if we have to deploy for shelters. We’re not even in the cone anymore, but if we got open for shelters, we’d be in a different predicament than other people because we’re a big shelter county. If we have to open for shelters, we have to close schools.”
Talbot said it’s too early to know if the storm will affect this week’s football games.
“It really just depends on how much rain we get,” he said. “If we’re off Tuesday, if we’re out of school Wednesday and go back to school Thursday, we’re playing Friday night depending on field conditions.”
Earlier in the day, the FHSAA acknowledged that the storm would cause the cancellations or the rescheduling of events and granted each school authorization to adjust their schedules as necessary.
The FHSAA also provided a few tips to ensure proper communication for the safety between schools and the student-athletes:∎ Create a contact tree for your athletic department.∎ Have student-athletes provide their most up-to-date contact information and an emergency contact.∎ Designate coaches to contact student-athletes on their designated team to check on their safety.