Eye on the Tropics

Hurricane Irma: Information on local school closures

By WFTV Web Staff
By WFTV Web Staff

School districts in Central Florida are preparing for the worst as Hurricane Irma made landfall in the Caribbean and then shifted eastward Wednesday.

The powerful Category 5 storm maintained 185 mph Tuesday and Wednesday.

Download: Free WFTV weather app

The scope of a threat to Central Florida is still unclear.

Below is information on how school districts are preparing in anticipation of the storm.

Read: Sandbag pickup locations in Central Florida

Seminole County

The Seminole County School District said it is "closely monitoring" Hurricane Irma and will update parents and students on its website and social media pages.

The district also said Friday night football games will be played Thursday night and Junior Varsity games will be played on Wednesday or will be rescheduled.

Orange County

Orange County school officials said on Twitter they are monitoring the storm and consulting with Emergency Management officials.

The Sept. 9 administration of the ACT, scheduled to be given at Lake Highland Preparatory School in Orlando, has been canceled.

The rescheduled test date will be posted at www.actstudent.org as soon as it is set.

Registered examinees will receive official notification from ACT. The announcement is only for examinees registered at Lake Highland Preparatory School.

University of Central Florida and Rollins College

The University of Central Florida has canceled classes from Thursday to Monday.

This closure includes the Rosen College of Hospitality Management, Health Sciences at Lake Nona campus and Center for Emerging Media in downtown Orlando, all of which follow main campus closure protocols. UCF regional locations will follow the decisions made by their respective host state college.

Although university housing remains open at this time, UCF urges students who live on campus to move to safe off-campus locations by noon on Friday.

The University of Central Florida's football game against Memphis was moved to 6:30 p.m. Friday at Spectrum Stadium.

Brevard County

Brevard County schools will be closed Thursday and Friday. School-related activities will be canceled.

Volusia County

All Volusia County schools will be closed Friday and Monday. Several schools will open as shelters on Saturday; those schools and opening times will be announced by Volusia County Emergency Management. Any decisions regarding further changes to school schedules will be made on Monday.

All activities, events and programs scheduled for Friday through Monday are cancelled or will be rescheduled:

  • All JV football games have been moved to Wednesday, Sept. 6, or rescheduled for a later date
  • All varsity football games have been moved to Thursday, Sept. 7
  • All weekend athletic competitions and practices and extra-curricular activities are cancelled
  • The extended day programs at elementary schools will be closed on Friday, Sept. 8, and Monday, Sept. 11
  • The ACT test scheduled for area high schools on Saturday, Sept. 9, has been postponed and will be rescheduled for a later date. FSA retakes and EOC makeup tests have been postponed.

Polk County

Polk County school will be closed Friday.

Some Junior Varsity football games are being moved from Thursday to Wednesday, while Varsity football games were were moved form Friday to Thursday. All other sporting events scheduled for Friday or Saturday have been postponed, and will be rescheduled at a later date, the school district said.

Lake County

Lake County school officials said on Twitter that they will notify parents via phone and social media on any scheduling updates.

Marion County

Marion County Public Schools will be closed Friday and Monday due to Hurricane Irma.

Osceola County

All Osceola district public schools will be closed on Friday and Monday. All school activities, events and programs scheduled for those days are canceled.

All schools will be in session Thursday as normal and current plans are for schools to reopen on Tuesday.

A number of Osceola schools are needed as early as Friday as shelters for residents in Osceola County, as well as for those Floridians evacuating from the south and coastal counties.

The following football games have been rescheduled from Friday to Thursday:

Poinciana at Liberty - 7:00 p.m.

Gateway at St. Cloud - 7:30 p.m.

Cypress Creek at Celebration - Double header

JV - 5:00 p.m. and Varsity - 7:30 p.m.-Waiting on confirmation regarding Osceola at Viera

JV games at Liberty and Osceola have been canceled.

Flagler County

No information has been released

Sumter County 

No information has been released

Cox Media Group

Most Read