Polk County schools are set to reopen Wednesday after Hurricane Milton, the county announced on Facebook .
Schools will follow the normal school calendar, meaning early dismissal on Thursday and no school for students on Friday.
Superintendent Fred Heid shared the following statement to parents:
Dear families,
I am pleased to share that all of our schools now have power, and our major cleanup efforts are complete. We are incredibly thankful for the hard work and dedication of the countless employees working for our power companies.
I cannot thank our amazing school-based and district staff enough for tirelessly working over the weekend, and the past two days, to get our schools ready for this important step in the recovery process for our community.
Although minor repairs will continue in the weeks to come, our campuses are now safe and ready for students to return. As such, we are looking forward to students returning on Wednesday, Oct. 16.
We hope the safe and reassuring environment of school will be a welcome return to some sense of normalcy.
The reopening of schools is an important step for a community to take to begin recovering from a devastating storm. Students greatly benefit from being around friends, beloved teachers, and trusted school staff. Many students also depend on our campuses for meals.
We understand that many families might still be without power and are continuing their own storm recovery efforts. If your child is unable to attend school due to storm-related issues, then please contact your child’s school and let the staff know.
Some parents have asked about make-up days and any updates to the school calendar. Information regarding make-up days will be shared in the next two weeks. We remain in contact with the Florida Department of Education on our status and the challenging circumstances facing our community.
At this time, we will continue to follow our school calendar. This means Thursday, Oct. 17, is an early dismissal day. As a reminder, there is no school Friday, Oct. 18, which is a teacher-staff development day.
Hopefully, this short school week will be a nice way to begin easing back into our routines as we all continue to recover from the storm.
While our school buses will be transporting students tomorrow, there is a possibility that some areas may be short-staffed on drivers, as some may be dealing with issues related to Hurricane Milton. We ask for your patience. Families, where bus routes may be impacted, will receive an email informing them of anticipated bus pick-up and drop-off times due to driver absences.
If your children are walking to school or bus stops, please speak with them about the importance of avoiding any debris piles, hanging limbs, or other storm damage.
In the aftermath of this storm, please remember our telehealth program is available to help PCPS families with their healthcare needs. It is very common for children to need mental and physical healthcare in the days and weeks after a devastating storm.
Our telehealth program provides mental and physical health services to all PCPS students and their families through a partnership with Hazel Health, a telehealth provider for K-12 schools. With Hazel, students can immediately speak with a licensed medical professional or mental health clinician right from home. Hazel services are provided at no charge for all students at this time.
Parents and guardians must give consent if they want their children to receive health care services from Hazel Health. To learn more about Hazel Health and submit a Consent for Care form to opt-in to this new service, visit my.hazel.co/polkschoolsfl .
Thanks again for your patience and support as we welcome students back into our classrooms. Information for bus service and potential make-up days can be found here.
Earlier Tuesday, Hillsborough County schools announced they would be reopening on Thursday.