Cold weather means many students in need of warm clothing

ORLANDO, Fla. — The chilly temperatures are causing concern for Orange County school officials. They want to make sure every student has warm clothes.

The approaching cold snap has Fern Creek Elementary School Principal Patrick Galatowitsch worried for many of his 350 students.

"Oftentimes when you move from place to place as a family, it's difficult to haul everything with you. Often, clothing gets left behind," said Galatowitsch. "I'm concerned our kids won't have warm enough clothes to keep them warm and safe over the break."

After Channel 9 Eyewitness News reported on a coat shortage at Fern Creek last winter, the school received 300 donated coats. Each of those coats went to a child, and now the school is in need of more.

"You can see, with 350 children, we're running pretty low in terms of having some warm clothes for them," said Galatowitsch.

Rock Lake Elementary School is facing the same situation.

"We're very concerned. We know in the past we've had children come to school on pretty chilly days not dressed as appropriately as we would have liked," said Rock Lake Principal Lynne Wassatt. "As educators, we need to make sure we're taking care of all parts of our children, not just feeding their minds, feeding their stomachs, but keeping them warm, keeping them safe."

The Fern Creek and Rock Lake  principals said people who would like to donate warm clothing can bring it to the schools' front offices.

WFTV